GEORGIA — A former Georgia resident faces dozens of federal charges amid accusations of misdirecting millions of dollars meant for faith-based charity.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that Jason Gerald Shenk, 45 formerly of Dublin, is facing multiple federal charges, alleging he orchestrated a scheme that misdirected more than $30 million.
The funds were supposed to go to a Christian ministry in China.
Instead, the USDOJ said Shenk took millions from faith-based charities and individual donors in Ohio and North Carolina, then gambled, invested in energy company stocks, and bought diamonds, gold, and more.
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According to the indictment, Shenk faces more than 40 federal charges, including for money laundering, wire fraud, and failure to file a report for having a foreign bank account.
Warrants have been issued for Shenk’s arrest.
Shenk allegedly obtained approximately $22 million from one charitable organization and its donors, and approximately $10 million from another charity and its donors, along with other donations from individuals, according to the Justice Department.
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“When people of faith donate money for evangelistic purposes, they reasonably expect those who solicit their donations to act as faithful stewards of those funds,” U.S. Attorney Jill E. Steinberg said in a statement. “This case alleges an egregious breach of that trust at the expense of multiple charities and individual donors.”
Officials said Shenk enacted this alleged scheme for nearly 10 years, from April 2010 to July 2019. In 2016, USDOJ said Shenk renounced his American citizenship as a way to avoid reporting his finances to the federal government.
Explaining the alleged scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and USDOJ said Shenk promised donors he would use their money to produce and distribute Bibles and other Christian literature in China, then, he spent the more than $30 million on a variety of items, including:
- Payments of approximately $1 million to an online sports gambling website;
- Purchases of equity shares of approximately $850,000 in a privately held nuclear energy company;
- Approximately $4 million in purchases of at least 16 life insurance policies in various people’s names;
- Purchases of diamonds, gold, and precious metals in amounts totaling approximately $1 million;
- Purchases of domestic and foreign stocks totaling more than $188,000;
- Payments of approximately $7 million to the company running Shenk’s family farm;
- Purchases on at least 10 personal credit cards totaling more than $820,000; and,
- Purchases of $320,000 in real estate in the “Galt’s Gulch” development in Santiago, Chile.
Of the funds he obtained, Shenk got about $22 million from a single organization and its donors, with another $10 million from a separate charity and its donors, in addition to the contributions of individuals.
Then, Shenk allegedly funneled those funds into a variety of shell corporations, while he claimed to the religious communities providing the funds that he was a missionary and was dedicated to multiple projects internationally.
The companies he used to receive the funds included Morning Star Ministries, with a bank account in Dublin, Ga.; Connect Connect Asia BV, with multiple bank accounts in Singapore; CLF Asia Limited, owner of a bank account in Hong Kong; Autumnvale Group Limited, owner of multiple bank accounts in Singapore; BCB International LLC, an entity registered in Georgia with bank accounts in the United States; Heartland Plantations LLC, an entity registered in Georgia with bank accounts in the United States; Global Paradigm LTD, an entity associated with bank accounts in the United States; and Shenkland LLC, an entity registered in North Carolina and owner of bank accounts in the United States, according to USDOJ.
If convicted, after being taken into custody and going through a trial, Shenk faces up to 20 years in federal prison and will not be eligible for parole. He’ll also have to forfeit any property involved in or connected to the charges, plus financial penalties and supervised release after prison.
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