Terry and Brenda Millender have been convicted of defrauding members of their Victorious Life Church in Alexandria, Virginia. The former pastor and his wife advised their congregation to invest in their company, lending money to entrepreneurs in developing countries. The Millenders also claimed that they helped broker oil deals in Nigeria.
Terry is 53 and Brenda is 57. They made millions of dollars from scamming their members. They were arrested on Sunday for their involvement in the $1.2 million fraud scheme. Millender told his congregation that he would make them their money back plus profit but that didn’t happen.
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| Terry Millender Brenda Victorious Life Church Convicted |
Last year, Terry, Brenda and 56-year-old Grenetta Wells were indicted by a federal grand jury on conspiracy charges to commit wire fraud. Grenetta was one of the church’s employees. The trio was also charged with money laundering conspiracy.
Terry argued that he mismanaged the investments and he didn’t intend to commit fraud. He blamed his company’s failures on the economy’s 2008 downturn and the Ukraine banking crisis.
Prosecutors explained that the pastor and his wife used the money for expensive trips, a birthday party and their $1.75 million home. They will be sentenced in March.
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