Church scam probe widens

Waldorf man is an owner of accused Oxon Hill firm

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

According to a lawsuit filed by the Washington, D.C., attorney general's office on behalf of the 43 churches in the city, the Urban Interfaith Network Inc. of Oxon Hill allegedly promised free computer kiosks to worship centers and then charged the religious groups thousands of dollars in leases.

No telephone number was listed for Urban Interfaith, which had addresses in Oxon Hill and Temple Hills. The company is owned by Willie Perkins of Washington, D.C., and Michael J. Morris of Waldorf. The two men also operated a separate company, Television Broadcasting Online, from the same addresses.

Reached by phone Friday, Perkins referred questions to his attorney.

"I've got a gag order," Perkins said.

Wilmer Ticer, an attorney for Perkins and Morris, said he wasn't authorized to comment on the case.

A man who answered the phone at what was listed in court documents as Morris' address declined to comment and said Morris didn't live there.

Several companies are also being sued for billing the churches for fraudulent leases set up by Urban Interfaith. At least dozens of area churches are listed as customers of the company, though not all may be victims.

Court documents list the New Community Church of God in Christ, New Hope AME Church and God is in Control Church, all in Waldorf, as having used the kiosks. Attempts to reach representatives of the three churches were unsuccessful.

Urban Interfaith's customer list includes more than 580 churches nationwide.

No complaints have been made in Maryland, a spokeswoman for the state attorney general's office said.

One church in Washington, D.C., has lost $62,000 in the scam, according to court papers, while Prince George's County clergy claim that some local churches have also been fleeced.

"We've been fortunate, but a number of my colleagues are having problems," said the Rev. Jonathan Weaver, pastor of Greater Mount Nebo AME Church in Bowie, who has been working with county churches allegedly taken by the kiosk scheme. "I am absolutely appalled."

According to court papers, Urban Interfaith approached churches beginning in 2004, offering to install free computers in their lobbies where congregants could look up information on nearby businesses and restaurants, as well as post notices of church activities. The company allegedly promised possible profits for churches if the kiosks were successful and advertisers adopted the service.

Though it was promised as a free service, Urban Interfaith made each church sign a contract to pay an $8,790 annual lease on the computers, but church officials were assured the money would come from advertisers through Urban Interfaith, court documents state. At the same time, Urban Interfaith had an agreement with several leasing companies that gave Perkins and Morris a $30,000 commission for each kiosk churches agreed to lease, according to documents.

According to court papers, Urban Interfaith initially gave the churches checks to pay for the leases though the checks would occasionally bounce. After several parishes complained, Urban Interfaith later promised to pay the leasers directly but did not, documents state.

Then the leasing companies began demanding payments from the churches.

The same situation happened at the Progressive Church of Camp Springs, the Rev. Don Massey, said.

"The first few months they [gave us checks], but then it stopped," Massey said. "Then they'd send a few checks, and then it stopped completely."

Massey, pastor of the church could not say how much money the kiosks have cost the nondenominational church.

The leasing companies claim the churches owe thousands for the outstanding bills since they signed leases for the equipment. Washington, D.C., prosecutors say the churches were conned and are seeking to overturn the contracts as invalid, according to documents.

Prosecutors for the D.C. attorney general's office referred questions to a spokesman, who did not return calls for comment.

The extent of the alleged fraud in Prince George's and Charles counties is unclear. Though Massey said his church and others were taken in, others said that Urban Interfaith kept its promise to pay the leases on the computer equipment.

"We had no real issues," said Tony Chapman, executive administrative assistant at Union Bethel AME Church in Brandywine. Chapman said his church started using the kiosks about six or seven years ago and was able to use the computer without much problem. He said news of the lawsuit came as a shock.

"It did surprise me, because I thought they [the defendants] were on the up and up," he said.

Other area pastors agreed.

"We understood completely what we were getting," said Pastor Charles Whitiker of the River of Life Church in Temple Hills.

Whitiker said he believes the payment disparities occurred after Urban Interfaith lost advertising business in the poor economy.

Weaver said Urban Interfaith supplied his church, Greater Mount Nebo AME of Bowie, with a kiosk, but that they were never charged for the equipment, which he said the congregation rarely uses.

"Most people who come to church aren't interested," he said. "They come to worship and they leave."

Staff writer Bethany Rodgers contributed to this report.

brodgers@somdnews.com