Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Former Broadmoor Baptist Pastor Indicted

A Madison County grand jury indicted a former pastor of Broadmoor Baptist Church for 14 counts of embezzlement last month.  Riley Brown served as Executive Pastor for the church from 2014 to 2017.  Broadmoor accused him of embezzling $332,000  and fired him in 2017.

Brown owned a home in Macon, Georgia and another one in Madison County.  The indictment alleges that Brown issued a Broadmoor check of $5,295 to his lender, Bank of America.  Brown allegedly withdrew more funds over the next several years to pay the lender.  Riley would issue a Broadmoor cashiers check to himself and deposit the check in his checking account.  The following transactions took place:

* $13,500 cashier's check  on April 15, 2015
* $13,500 cashier's check on May 27, 2015
* $5,000 withdrawal on June 26, 2015
* $12,500 cashier's check on August 12, 2015
* $5,000 withdrawal on August 18, 2015
* $6,500 withdrawals from September 16 to October 1, 2015
* $9,000 withdrawals from December 7 to  December 18, 2015
* $12,500 cashier's check on January 13, 2016, $1,000 withdrawal on same date.
* $10,000 withdrawals from February 5 to February 8, 2016.
* $15,000 cashier's check on April 18, 2016
* $35,992 cashier's check on June 9, 2016
* $4,500 withdrawal and $10,000 cash on February 1, 2017
*  Unspecified amount over $25,000 from March 3 to August 3, 2017.


Broadmoor Baptist Church said in October 2017:

These transactions were discovered in September 2017, and were primarily over a 27-month period of time. These transactions were undertaken by one individual, Riley Brown, circumventing our existing internal policies and procedures, for his personal benefit.
 Broadmoor did not report the embezzlement to law enforcement.  However, the District Attorney investigated after it received a tip.  Brown faces up to twenty years in prison.  Mississippi Code Section 97-23-19 states: 


(d) Any person guilty of embezzlement of any goods, rights in action, money, or other valuable security, effects or property of any kind or description with a value of Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($ 25,000.00) or more, shall be guilty of felony embezzlement, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in the Penitentiary not more than twenty (20) years, or fined not more than Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($ 25,000.00), or both.

Kingfish note: The Street Committee says Brown couldn't sell his Georgia home and was stuck with two house payments.  JJ broke the story.  Remember some of these comments?

I love ya, JJ, but this is CNN/NBC/CBS type "reporting". You're better than this.

 Kingfish, it may be a coincidence that this story posted and it is a really slow slow news day today.

 Should those who steal money (especially from God's House) be prosecuted?
Absolutely.
Should it be subject to newsprint?
Yes, sir, but only when the facts have been fully substantiated beyond hearsay and interpreting obscure land records.

 This smells like Fake News. But it does garner attention, which is all that seems to matter in "news" these days.

 You all are just a bunch of people with too much time on your hands. If it doesn’t concern you, do not start unnessicary drama. People mess up, people do awful things. There’s room for redemption. I’m sure there are better things you could do with your time then rip apart a person 75% of y’all don’t even know. It’s not fake news, just fake people responding to it. 






57 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is the work of the devil-

Anonymous said...

Whoop, there it is!

Anonymous said...

Me I prefer women but some people really love money!

Anonymous said...

More of those conservative Christian Mississippi values on display. He should run for governor.

Anonymous said...

I think sometimes a victim has a responsibility to all the potential victims out there to hold a person accountable for their actions. I also believe that Biblical forgiveness and just giving someone a pass are two very different things. Paul frequently told the 1st Century churches to hold each other accountable, and he also laid out how to do it.

Anonymous said...

Crooks either wrap themselves in pages from the bible or the flag!

Anonymous said...

What is untold is how the church handled this. My Family was looking for a church and attended First Baptist Jackson when they released their pastor and then were at Broadmoor at the time of the discovery that money was missing. It would be understating the matter to say FNB Jackson ran their pastor out on a rail. It was almost unbearable to sit through the after the sermon, sermon as they lambasted the preacher stating 5 times, we counted, that the pastor was asked to resign and his resignation was accepted without any concern for he or his family’s wellbeing. We then were at Broadmoor when the pastor informed the church of this incident and the Christian concern for this individual was one of the best examples of New Testament forgiveness we had ever seen. Their concern for him and prayers for him were inspiring. That pastor is no longer there and they are looking for a new one, but what we saw and experienced was a church body that is dedicated to serving others.

Anonymous said...

This is unconstitutional due to the separation of church & State.
The state can't interfere with church matters. The church didn't file charges so why can the state file charges into a matter of the church?

Anonymous said...

dat preacher did not embezzle that money! lawd ham mercy!!!!........he will tell you so himself. he was just 'borrowing' it to catch up on a few bills and he was gonna put it back. but , of course, he never did.

Anonymous said...

Those Baptists don't drink, but they sure can steal.

Anonymous said...

Thank God! As a devout southern baptist it breaks my heart when a wolf in sheeps clothing takes advantage of a church like this. Too often the church is too forgiving and/or doesn't want the scandal that they will cover this stuff up.

Forgive on a personal level, yes, but justice must be served in the courts. God established governments for this purpose.

Anonymous said...

@ 11:47

Yes, forgiveness is the cornerstone of the christian faith.

However, there are consequences for the sinner as well as forgiveness.

Though shalt not steal is still in force. Maybe the stolen monies will be equally reimbursed by EVERY member to the church treasury, for that is the true measure of forgiveness. Not, just a verbal expression.

What's it gonna be?

Anonymous said...

Wonder where the constitutional lawyer at 11:51attended law school?

Anonymous said...

@11:23 Hi Donna. Click an ad while you are here.

Anonymous said...

@11:47 I'm Baptist also. So if someone entered the church and killed 10 members of the congregation with an AR-15, you would want to let the killer go unpunished?

I absolutely believe in forgiveness. But the law needs to do what should be done. This guy should go to jail, Broadmoor and its members should want him in jail, but Broadmoor and its members should forgive him. Members of the congregation should visit him in jail and let him know that while he deserves his punishment, he is forgiven. So when he gets out of jail, he can come back and join the congregation and be welcomed with open arms (but not be hired on staff).

Forgiveness doesn't mean lack of punishment or consequences.

Madison Rulz said...

Forgiveness and accountability are different concepts that are not mutually exclusive. This prosecution is about the latter.

Anonymous said...

Just wondering...what size budget does Broadmoor have? The are some significant amounts to not have been noticed by someone in the financial office.

Anonymous said...

Why do you always take two Baptists fishing with you? Because if you took only one he'd drink all your beer!

Anonymous said...

There are some families around Madison living high off the money he gave them.

Anonymous said...

@12:35, there is no way that @11:23 is DonnerKay. Her bloviating has never been confined to just one line of text.

Anonymous said...

12:40 is right on the mark.

Anonymous said...

Lock him up with the pedophile priests. They can pray together.

Anonymous said...

That sure is a lot of Appreciation Sunday's Mr. Pastor.

Anonymous said...

"Pass the plate!"

Anonymous said...

Keep feeding the collection plates, suckers. Don't forget to make a special donation for those luxury business jets that some of these preachers fly around in.

This embezzlement is not an isolated incident.

Anonymous said...

I find it hard to believe that more than one or two posters on JJ go to this church. And if you don't, what do you get out of posting about this?

Anonymous said...

The problem with never filing charges against those who embezzle, is that when there is no record of it, they go somewhere else and steal again. I've seen it so many times in charities and churches.

Anonymous said...

It appears that the leadership of this particular church (as it was constituted at the time the crimes were discovered) had the "gentle as doves" part down pat. Hopefully the new leadership intends to employ more of the "wise as serpents" part of the equation. Both are commended to Believers.

Anonymous said...

@2:51 PM - so true! I had an optometrist whose office manager stole $250,000 over time. He fired her but did not report it to the police (too embarassed).

Guess what? She moved to a nearby town and was hired by another...wait for it...optometrist, where she probably did the same thing.

Anonymous said...

Church: extorting money from stupid people with fairy tales, mass hypnosis, grandstanding, and guilt for millennia. Wonder why 43 percent of the US now identifies as non religious.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if this Pastor is a Mississippi College Graduate?

Anonymous said...

Very specific information that would seemingly come directly from someone at Broadmoo, but hey they are not pursuing charges. Also I find it hard to believe that Futral a "friend" of Mr. Brown would not have had knowledge about this. Most larger churches also have finance committees and audits annually. Something does not fully add up here especially in the light of Futral resigning. Something does not add up at all.

Anonymous said...

So the pastor at the time of this resigns and then moves out to California. What did he know? Also cool that the church is not pursuing charges, but seems to be leaking specific information on it.

Also, churches typically have audits annually and finance committees. Seems to be a missing piece here especially since a second home was involved. What did the pastor know?

Rod Knox said...

Embezzling is such a grand old tradition and southern fundamentalists are all about observing traditions.

Anonymous said...

Jesus yes.

Establishment religion? No.

Drain the swamp.

Anonymous said...

Church:

Have you ever been to church? I would like to take you. I think you have been mislead.

Anonymous said...

How in the world did these withdrawals not get found out for two years after the fact? Doesn't the church balance their bank statements monthly and account for what comes in and what goes out? I find this extremely difficult to swallow. There MUST be others involved that knew about what was happening but "were trying to protect" the pastor/thief. I hope the DA does a thorough investigation . The pastor definitely should be prosecuted of a theft of such magnitude ($332,000) as this over a two year period. It's not like he slipped up once or twice but FOURTEEN! Shame on him. He deserves his punishment, and yes, he can be forgiven for his sin.

Tit for tat said...

A crime is a crime. It doesn’t matter if you embezzle from the bank or the church. Punishment (and forgiveness) should be consistent across the board.

Anonymous said...

The Christians on responding on this site are advocating forgiveness, they are not presuming to tell law enforcement or the courts how to do their jobs. Nor are they saying this man should not be punished by the appropriate branch of government for stealing this money. They are not suggesting the department of revenue should not pursue the taxes this thief probably did not pay. They are simply saying as Christians one should not judge this person and should behave a in forgiving manner toward him. Ultimately, only God can judge us.

Anonymous said...

The "trier of fact" will certainly judge him.

Keep feeding those collection plates. Tithing will save your soul, or at least build big egotiscal taj mahals.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure that he will repay Broadmoor for every dollar that he took....

And for the church to just let him resign, and hush it up--it just perpetuates the problem. There is no repentance without confession.

just google 'houston chronicle baptist database' and read all about churches that passed the problem...

Louis LeFleur said...

What, no sex with another staff member or someone's wife? No prostitutes or under age children? Just money? Phhht...this doesn't rate as a scandal, just simple theft.

Cynical Sam said...

Just like the mackeral snappers - transfer the offender to a different city.

Anonymous said...

How in the world does any church (especially one as large as Broadmoor) not have an accounting
system in place whereby ALL money removed from any of their bank account(s) is not seen/pre-approved
by at least 3 people before any check or withdrawal is made?
And, how did this go on for so long a period of time before anyone noticed?
Come on folks, just use 1% of your brain when dealing with money. It’s not hard.

I’m a life long card carrying Baptist and I’ve never seen this type problem
occur at any church I’ve been a member.

Anonymous said...

What a light weight. He could have used that money to lure some church wives to an out-of-town resort...

Rod Knox said...

Oh but church members who turn a blind eye to pilfering cash from the offering plates might be allowing someone or some several individuals to make life more comfortable for themselves, 9:40. Even some large televised evangelicals feel free to skim cash off the top for themselves and allow their dear friends who volunteer to open the mail to do the same.

Tax laws written to remove churches from financial scrutiny also removes scrutiny from those in the churches it seems. An ordained minister has a license to steal and then pay no taxes on his loot. The Mafia envies them.

Anonymous said...

I heard the church reported the money to the IRS as income. That was pretty slick.

Anonymous said...

Many churches buy homes for their staff. There are no taxes paid on those homes.

Anonymous said...

These church 'leaders' who think this sort of thing ought to be swept under the alder, forgiven or treated like taking two donuts instead of one during annual revival ought to run a poll of the membership and feel the pulse of the sheep. I don't doubt some of them want the same sort of 'forgiveness' when they do the same thing.

Anonymous said...

"Charity (embezzlement) begins at home."
"The Lord helps those who help themselves (to the cash)."

Chapter and Verse, Please.. said...

OK, so you're told, "Every dime your family has tithed for the past thirty years has been stolen for personal use. But your church leadership has admonished you to look the other way".

Judgment and vengeance aside, where and by whom are we admonished to suffer, gracefully, those who would enter our gates and steal from us that to which they have no right?

Anonymous said...

Render unto Caesar that which is Caeser's. I've always understood that Biblical admonition to mean, among other things, that crimes should be prosecuted by the government.

Anonymous said...

Most congregants think 'the church's money' is mythical anyway. It's not as if 'church money' is part of the parishioner's budget. After all, the money claimed to be tithed is fictional and only a pencil entry on the annual tax return.

Theca Jones of the Roguish Gent Podcast said...

The Perception of Christianity

Anonymous said...

This asst. pastor claims he's 100 percent innocent. Said the pastor let him do it! Started squealing on the whole bunch when they fired him. Must have blew up in his face. Whole bunch seems dirty. Jesus thrashed and overturned the den of theives.

Anonymous said...

January 2020 comment is interesting. Because of this story and all the comments I have seen, I did research; it seems the main pastor is now at a smaller church in CA. Did Broadmoor run him out of town because he wanted to forgive his old college roommate and not hold him accountable? Or did he flee before they found out he knew all about it?

Anonymous said...

Looks like Brown's old boss Futral is now a former pastor of the So California church, it's only been a couple of years. The plot thickens.


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