A scam took more than 50 million dollars from people who were targeted based on their faith.
If someone promises you a high guaranteed return with no risk, officials advise you to run the other way.
“I`ve lost sleep and can`t get it out of mind,” says Jim Taylor, a fraud victim.
“Knowing there are people in this country willing to say or do anything because they are too lazy to get an honest job,” says Pat Taylor, also a fraud victim.
The Taylor brothers are bonded by blood and now by a scheme that cost both of them more than $100, 000 each.
Jim Taylor learned about an investment involving the buying and selling of foreign currency and told his brother Pat about it.
“I had already lost some money in the stock market. If I had not lost that money in 2008, I might not have been as anxious to get into something like this, but I was looking for an opportunity to make back some of the money my wife and I lost,” says Pat.
The Taylor brothers were lured in by a man who claimed to be a Christian like them so they felt they could trust him.
“He was very adamant about the fact that he wanted to only work with Christian people that he would not take non-Christians as clients,” says Pat.
“He suckered people in that way and got them to believe that money they put in they would get a 10-13% return guaranteed with no risk at all,” says Amanda McMurrey, U.S. Postal Inspector.
Postal inspectors say there were more than 80 victims and over $50 million in losses.
“If you don`t understand how the investment works, that might not be the investment for you. A guaranteed return is a guaranteed loss because all investments are risky,” says McMurrey.
Jim Taylor says his biggest regret was dragging his brother into the scam.
“I brought him in and threw his money away and that matters worse. Not only did I lose my money, I lost his,” says Jim Taylor.
“I don`t hold him to blame in any way shape or form,” says Pat.
The mastermind behind the scheme pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $15 million in restitution to the victims.
