Rhetoric Race and Religion
Bishop Eddie Long, the televangelist and head of Atlanta’s New Birth Missionary Church in Atlanta, is being named as a defendant in a new lawsuit. This time, it’s alleged that the bishop coerced nine members of his church into investing in a Ponzi scheme that stole at least $1 million of their savings. The lawsuit comes six months after Long reached an out-of-court settlement with four men who had accused him of pressuring them into sexual relationships.
In October 2009, Long invited Ephren Taylor Jr., a “child-prodigy entrepreneur” representing City Capital Corp. to New Birth for a week-long seminar called the “Wealth Tour Live.” Taylor urged church members at the seminar to invest in “socially conscious investments” that would provide “guaranteed income,” according to the lawsuit filed in DeKalb County State Court.
Long, according to the lawsuit, introduced Taylor to the congregation as a minister who would base everything he said on the word of God.
Taylor, however, was not licensed to sell investments. And City Capital was insolvent, information Long and New Birth knew or should have known, according to the suit.
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