Ephren Taylor Accused of $11 Million Christian Ponzi Scheme by SEC

May 8, 2012

Steve Osunsami and Katie Hinman

NIGHTLINE

Ephren Taylor stepped into the pulpit with the ease of preacher's son, taking the microphone at the New Birth Baptist Church in Atlanta, where the powerful pastor Eddie Long was introducing him to the Sunday morning crowd.

"Everything he says is based on the word of God," Long pledged to the members of his megachurch. But Taylor wasn't a visiting minister. He was a financial adviser, one who claimed to have made his first million before he turned 18. And he promised he could do the same for his fellow Christians.

"We're going to show you how to get wealth and use it for the building of his kingdom," Taylor shouted to the congregation one morning in 2009. It was all part of what he called his "Building Wealth Tour," which crisscrossed the country touting his investments and financial advice.

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On the Hunt for Alleged Church Ponzi Schemer

June 18, 2014

Part 2: After alleged victims say Ephren Taylor disappeared, ABC News tracked him down in Kansas.

Transcript for On the Hunt for Alleged Church Ponzi Schemer

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We're back with a special edition of "Nightline. " Ephron Taylor was the son of a preacher who told believers he could revolutionize their finances, but then it all went very wrong, so what would he say when "Nightline" caught up with him and his wife? Here's ABC's -- again.

Reporter: There was this Ephren Taylor. The man in the music video celebrating the high life starring his wife. 

I do what I want ?   I move like a billionaire ?

And then there was this Ephren Taylor. I tell you, are you broke? You can't make no money.

Reporter: Who preached faith-based investing to churches across the country. You want to get paid this morning? Somebody raise their hand and give god the praise if you want to get paid this morning.

Alleged Church Ponzi Schemer Arrested on Federal Fraud Charges

June 17, 2014

ABC News via NIGHTLINE

Ephren Taylor, once a financial adviser to congregants from some of the most prominent mega-churches in the country, was arrested today on federal fraud charges.

The Department of Justice announced in a news release that Taylor, 31, was arrested on a federal indictment charging him and his business partner with “defrauding investors across the country of more than $5 million.”

The charges allege that Taylor, the former CEO of City Capital Corporation, and the company’s former COO Wendy Connor “participated in a conspiracy to defraud investors” between April 2009 and October 2010, and allegedly managed to defraud “hundreds” of people nationwide, according to the DOJ.

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Taylor surrendered to the U.S. Secret Service in Kansas City, Mo., this morning following an arrangement with the agents handling the case. A court date has yet to be announced.