New computer scam may have bilked churches in 10 states
LOS ANGELES (AP) – California is investigating several companies suspected of bilking churches nationwide of hundreds of thousands of dollars through fraudulent computer leasing schemes, authorities said Friday.
State Attorney General Jerry Brown said as many as 30 Southern California churches may have been defrauded, with the same companies suspected of bilking other churches in as many as 10 other states.
The companies offered churches free computer kiosks that could serve as electronic message boards and generate advertising revenue, Brown said.
“Instead, churches were left with leases as high as $45,000 per year for what amounted to little more than desktop computers and printers housed in podium-sized wooden boxes,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement.
The leasing companies later filed lawsuits against churches to collect payments, interest and late fees, Brown said.
Brown said his office is investigating three men and a woman who owned the companies that offered the kiosks. Two of the men were charged in Michigan last month with racketeering, fraud and other crimes. Prosecutors there contend they bilked 21 churches of about $660,000.
Brown’s office said it has served subpoenas against Maryland-based Urban Interfaith Network and Television Broadcasting Online. The Associated Press was unable to locate a functioning Web site or phone number for either company.
Also subpoenaed were three leasing companies — Irvine-based Balboa Capital Corp.; United Leasing Associates of America Ltd. of Brookfield, Wisc.; and San Francisco-based Banc of America Leasing and Capital LLC.
Banc of America Leasing is a subsidiary of the Bank of America.
E-mails left for Balboa and United Leasing seeking comment were not immediately returned. A Banc of America representative had no immediate comment pending further study of Brown’s announcement.
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Associated Press Writer Thomas Watkins contributed to this report.
