Virginia Pastor & First Lady Charged With $1.2 Million Congregation Fraud Scheme

Virginia Pastor Accused Of Defrauding Congregation

A Virginia Pastor and his First Lady are accused of committing the ultimate sin against their congregation.

Terry Wayne Millender and Brenda Millender of Victorious Life Church are accused of defrauding members out of $1.2 million that they used for options trading and to buy their $1.75 million home.

FOX 5 reports:

Terry Wayne Millender, 52, the senior pastor of Victorious Life Church in Alexandria, along with his wife Brenda Millender, 56, both of Alexandria, and Grenetta Wells, 55, also of Alexandria and affiliated with the church, were indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.

Terry, Brenda and Grenetta operated a company called Micro-Enterprise Management Group, a Virginia company that alleged to help poor people in developing countries by providing small, short-term loans to start or expand existing businesses by working with a network of established micro-finance institutions, according to a press release.

The indictment claims some investors gave the Millenders sums totaling $40,000, $50,000, $84,000 and $400,000.

The representations were allegedly false and fraudulent. The money was allegedly used by the defendants to conduct risky trading on the foreign exchange currency market, options trading, payments toward the purchase of a $1.75 million residence for Terry and Brenda, and other personal expenses for the defendants, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.