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Posted: Sunday, 14 June 2009 11:36PM
TV station accuses Aurora pastor of fraud
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AURORA (STNG) -- It was a few months after moving to Bolingbrook from Wisconsin in July 2008 that Eric Goudy Sr. and his wife began searching for a new church to call home.
"We were riding around and saw that church over in the Fox Valley Mall," he said, referring to Aurora-based Life Reach Ministries, 4054A Fox Valley Center Drive. "We said we were going to stop by and visit there one day."
After that initial visit, Goudy said they were regulars at the church for about a month before finally deciding to become members that November.
It was one month later — around mid-December — when he said he spoke privately with the church's pastor, the Rev. Howard Richmond.
"He asked me for $5,000, and told me he would give me $100,000 if I gave him $5,000," Goudy claimed.
Goudy said he was told by Richmond the money was needed to pay for church expenses while he awaited the purchase of a new church building, which he said would be completed in a matter of weeks.
Goudy said he didn't have $5,000, but instead loaned Richmond $2,500 on the promise the money would be returned by Dec. 30.
"That's the only way he got that money," he said. "And then when the 30th came, he said he didn't close yet, and then he just kept moving the date — I realized we were not going to get our money back."
Goudy is just one of nearly a half-dozen ex-members of the church who say they have loaned Richmond money totaling more than $300,000 since 2007 but have yet to be paid back. The group says it might file a lawsuit against the church leader.
Richmond already is a defendant in three pending lawsuits, including one for $100,000 for unpaid loans and one for $1 million, filed by Jovon Broadcasting Corp., parent company of area religious programming station WJYS-TV Channel 62 in Tinley Park.
The Aurora Police Department has launched an investigation.
"It's a sad situation," said 60-year-old Leo De Leon of Streamwood, who claims to have made a number of loans to Richmond since February 2008 totaling between $90,000 to $100,000.
Richmond is the founder, president and senior pastor of Life Reach Ministries Worldwide, a non-denominational, multi-ethnic church that moved to Aurora in April 2008 from its previous location on Chicago's West Side.
Since at least 2006, Richmond has had his program broadcast on area television stations, including WJYS-TV; Total Living Network, Aurora; Naperville Community Television; and Chicago Access Network-TV Channel 36.
Like Goudy, De Leon said a big factor that persuaded him to loan money was when Richmond allegedly showed him account statements on JPMorgan Chase Bank letterhead indicating he had several million dollars in an account at a Chase branch in Naperville.
"I saw receipts and letters from the bank saying that he had like $11 million in there for him when he was able to buy a building," De Leon said. "He was telling me that he needed this money to get this building going."
Other ex-church members also have claimed Richmond showed them bank documents stating he had amounts ranging anywhere from $9 million, to more than $50 million.
"He said he had $25 million sitting in the bank, but he could not touch it right now," former Life Reach member Sam Bakhsh of Gilberts said.
Bakhsh said he made several loans to Richmond over the past year totaling close to $150,000.
Similar allegations are the basis of a motion filed by Jovon in February. The suit accuses Richmond, Life Reach and Chase of misrepresenting the pastor's bank holdings for the purpose of procuring some $280,000 in loans Jovon said it made to the pastor. Also, Jovon alleges Richmond still owes more than $600,000 in unpaid air time from 2006 to 2008.
The pleading alleges that in March 2008, a manager of Chase Bank's South Naperville Branch signed letters to Jovon President and General Manager Joseph A. Stroud stating Richmond had approximately $50 million on deposit. It also said Chase would act as "guaranty" on the outstanding debt as well as any loans made with the understanding Jovon would receive a check for $928,014 by April 9, 2008. No such payment was ever made, according to the complaint.
Chase representatives responded to Jovon's complaint by stating it was the bank's policy not to comment on pending litigation matters.
But in April, attorneys for Chase filed a motion to dismiss the case, bringing into question the credibility of the letters, implying the bank also was a victim of an alleged scheme to defraud both parties.
"Indeed, the allegations as a whole reveal that, to the extent Jovon was ignorant of Richmond's lies, JPMC (J.P. Morgan Chase) surely was too," the motion for dismissal states.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for July 13.
In response to the allegations against Richmond, Jerry Rose, owner of Total Living Network television studio, issued a written statement Thursday refuting claims made on the ministry's Web site that the network still broadcasts the church's programs.
"We have recently had concerns about Howard Richmond with regard to his ethical and moral behavior," Rose wrote. "Because of these concerns, TLN refused Mr. Richmond the opportunity to purchase continued air time on TLN three months ago, and we have no intention of offering Mr. Richmond any air time in the future."
Aurora Police Department spokesman Dan Ferrelli said Friday an investigation of Howard Richmond continues to be "active."
Repeated phone calls to Life Reach Ministries for comment were not returned. Attempts to reach Richmond through his attorney, Bennett R. Klasky, were also unsuccessful.
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Copyright 2009 STNG Wire, The Chicago Sun-Times. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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