Harris and/or Eaton, without the knowledge (and accordingly, without consent) of AMEC General Board, the AMEC Commission on Retirement Services, or any other AMEC bodies or officers, created various entities that purported to either perform services for the Department or use Department and/or Annuity Plan funds., Dr. Privacy Policy Harris, without the knowledge (and accordingly, without consent) of AMEC General Board, the AMEC Commission on Retirement Services, or any other AMEC bodies or officers, used Department and/or Annuity Plan funds to make payments to himself and other individuals., Dr. Harris deposit[ed] funds from the [AMEC] Ministerial Retirement Annuity Plan into his, Dr. Harris invested millions of dollars from the Annuity Plan into high-risk investments,, Dr. Masthead, Economic Equity & Racial Justice Townhall Series, Elevate Black Podcast sponsored by Fifth Third Bank, 100 Founders of Change by American Express, Chasing Success Podcast by JP Morgan Chase, Honoring Juneteenth sponsored by Fidelity, Black Business Month Sponsored by Nationwide, 2022 Registry Of Corporate Directors Listing, 2021 BE Registry Of Corporate Directors Listing. The suit adds that church officials gave sole authority of the pension fund to AMEs head of retirement services with no oversight. Sherita Moon Seawright, Episcopal Supervisor. St. John's AME Church | Home Help keep The Christian Post free for everyone by making a one-time donation today. [emailprotected], [emailprotected]. While another $1.5 million was invested in another risky and speculative investment involving an undeveloped property in Key Marco Island, Florida. Presiding Elder Daren D. Jaime was born and raised in Harlem, New York, and he is the proud father of one son, Christopher Jaime. James Miller, the newly elected executive director of the denomination's Department of Retirement Services, that his request could not be accommodated due to a pending audit and the church's retirement funds being frozen. How does the Supreme Court ruling involving prayer affect high school coaches? The retired ministers filed the lawsuits after they receivedletters in the fall saying pension disbursements were temporarily paused due to an ongoing audit. The Nashville-based African Methodist Episcopal Church has filed a complaint against the Rev. The actions of Dr. Harris and others are also the subject of an ongoing law enforcement investigation. The class-action suit also claims church officials admitted the pension, which was valued at $126 million last year, has lost more than $90 million. page_type: 'article', Dr. Jerome Harris ("Dr. Harris") and ten other individuals and entities some of which wer. cnx({ Retired ministers filed sixseparate class action suits in late March against the AME Church, a major denomination in the U.S. headquartered in Nashville, and its former director of retirement services for mismanaging funds. He was succeeded last year by James Miller, who informed annuity plan participants in September that distributions from the plan would be halted while a forensic audit was conducted. page_type: 'article', Another $1 million of value was identified in investment in another "speculative, high-risk investment in undeveloped real estate located in Key Marco Island, Florida.". Jerome V. Harris, right, was executive director of the AME Department of Retirement Services for more than two decades. Cedric V. Alexander, a retired pastor with the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Inc., has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging that the denomination lost some 70% or nearly $100 million from its retirement plan through "foolish" and risky investments, which have hurt about 5,000 participants financially. Harris, without the knowledge (and accordingly, without consent) of AMEC General Board, the AMEC Commission on Retirement Services, or any other AMEC bodies or officers, used Department and/or Annuity Plan funds to make payments to himself and other individuals., Dr. Harris deposit[ed] funds from the [AMEC] Ministerial Retirement Annuity Plan into his personal checking account., Dr. Harris invested millions of dollars from the Annuity Plan into high-risk investments, including, among others, Motorskill Venture Group, Motorskill Ventures 1, LP; Motorskill Asia Venture Group; and Motorskill Asia Ventures 1, LP; (collectively, Motorskill Entities)., Dr. Nashville, Tennessee, May 25, 2022 - Today, the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC) General Counsel Douglass Selby confirmed that lawyers hired by the church filed a lawsuit against former AMEC Department of Retirement Services Executive Director Rev. The AME is one of the wokest denominations in the United States, producing large numbers of Liberationists like James Cone the father of Black Liberation Theology, a heretical bastardization of the true Gospel. one claiming a sum of at least $90 million is missing, More than $90 million missing from AME pension funds, claim class-action lawsuits, Report: AME Church suspends payments to retirees, investigates missing pension funds. At least three lawsuits have been filed against the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, claiming that it mishandled its retirement fund, leading to a $90 million loss. You've read 0 of 5 of todays most popular posts. AME Church sued after $100M goes missing from retirement fund | Church A former executive director of the African Methodist Episcopal Church was sued for making $100 million worth of "foolish" and risky investments on the retirement plan of thousands of members. (RNS) The African Methodist Episcopal Church has sued a former executive who oversaw its pension plans investment portfolio, charging that he and others embezzled money and defrauded its clergy and church ministers who were relying on its annuity plan for their retirement. AME Church Alleges Former Retirement Services Exec - ChurchLeaders Nashville, Tennessee, May 25, 2022 - Today, the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC) General Counsel Douglass Selby confirmed that lawyers hired by the church filed a lawsuit against former AMEC Department of Retirement Services Executive Director Rev. They are elected for life by a majority vote of the General Conference which meets every four years. Big churches sound alike. Money from the retirement funds was also used to provide a promissory note to an Illinois installer of solar panels called Day and Night Solar. He was succeeded last year by James Miller, who informed annuity plan participants in September that distributions from the plan would be halted while a forensic audit was conducted. It was also claimed that at the Jan. 31 meeting, the office of the executive director of the AME's Department of Retirement Services "had been emptied, with nothing in the office cabinets but 'empty files and paperclips.' PRESIDING ELDERS OF THE NORTH EASTERN EPISCOPAL DISTRICT, Reverend Dr. A. Alfred Carson was born and. General Secretary / Chief Information Officer 900 13th Avenue South Suite 340 Nashville, TN 37212 (615) 254-0911 cio@ame-church.com Rev. Screenshot: Facebook/6th District AME Church, 'Exceptionally radical': UN report says anti-LGBT religious beliefs not protected human rights, Evangelicals in CofE warn bishops not to commend blessings for same-sex couples, Pennsylvania's Democrat gov. Please click here to learn how. } The 48-page lawsuit alleges the defendants have completely and totally abrogated their fiduciary duties to AMEC retirement plan participants, including by allowing a single, unmonitored individual, Dr. Jerome V. Harris, to control all of the plan's assets and investments. Dr. Jerome Harris (Dr. Your Money, Your Life, LATEST LISTS Class Action Alleges 'Extraordinarily Risky Investments' Cost African All rights reserved. Meadows preached his trial sermon in 1994 at Fisher Chapel AME Zion Church. "Instead, the Council of Bishops, General Board, Department of Retirement Services, the chair of the Department, Bishop Green and the Trustees allowed a single individual, Defendant Harris, to exercise full decision making authority over the use of all Plan assets. Rev. Jerome V. Harris - MinistryWatch In its cross-complaint, Symetra said that the church gave the plan manager, the Rev. AME Church Alleges Fmr Denomination Exec Embezzled Tens of Millions Celebratory Worship Service (Rev. Dr. Jerome V. Harris, General Officer. It says any losses suffered by Ewing are the result of actions by third parties and/or church employees that acted outside the scope of their employment.. The church said it has since learned that the latter valuation is a baseless representation recklessly and deceptively made to plan participants without any third-party verification., Harris, it said, called the transactions related to the fund prudent and conservative., The accounting firm Rodney Brown and Co., another defendant in the court filing, performed audits for the department for 15 years. Complaint details sophisticated scheme to defraud AMEC clergy and employees of tens of millions in retirement funds managed by the AMECs Ministerial Retirement Annuity Plan. Little churches are the Wild West of music, study finds. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Dr. Jerome Harris, full authority to act on behalf of the plan and that it had no obligation to question Harris' actions. It's Your Call - The Christian Recorder RELATED: More than $90 million missing from AME pension funds, claim class-action lawsuits. Image courtesy of Google Maps. Celebratory Worship Service (Rev. Dr. Jerome V. Harris - Facebook Then the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported by December 14 that AME is undergoing an investigation involving "possible financial irregularities" with the retirement funds. pos: 'right_rail_2', Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean. ]); Jerome V. Harris and others are to blame for the tens of millions in financial mismanagement. In its filing Wednesday (May 25), the AME Church told the court it had discovered in September that Harris engaged in a conspiracy with several individuals and/or entities to embezzle funds and defraud AMEC by, among other things, providing AMEC with deceptive, false, and grossly inflated financial statements for the African Methodist Episcopal Church Ministerial Retirement Annuity Plan., The Rev. In addition to legal action, the AME Church has also created a task force to study reorganizing the retirement services department and restoring funds to pension participants. The Bishops are the Chief Officers of the Connectional Organization. divId: 'div-gpt-ad-rightrail-3', The complaint details a complex scheme perpetrated over more than two decades by Dr. Harris in his role as Executive Director of the AMEC Department of Retirement Services. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Dr. Teresa L. Fry Brown Historiographer / Executive Director, Department of Research and Scholarship 900 13th Avenue South Suite 230 Nashville, TN 37212 615-259-7792 AMECHistoryintheMaking@yahoo.com Sales Partnership Solutions Harry L. Seawright, Presiding Prelate & President of the Council of Bishops, AME Church Bishops shall be retired at that General Conference when the Bishop's seventy-third (73rd) birthday is on or before July 15th of the General Conference Year. The complaintdetails a complex scheme perpetrated over more than two decades byDr. Harrisin his roleas Executive Director of the AMEC Department of Retirement Services. The denomination announced that the Department of Retirement Services had reported a material loss in a statement last October and that a "comprehensive audit and review" would be conducted by an independent law firm and accounting firm. The complaint states, AMEC learned that only about $37,000,000.00 of Dr. Harriss previously reported $128,000,000.00 valuation of the Annuity Plan was held by Symetra. There is no evidence that the total value of the retirement fund reported by Rev. With the help of our legal team, the AMEC community is committed to holding those responsible accountable and recovering embezzled funds.. env: 'prod', 900 13th Avenue SouthSuite 340Nashville, TN 37212. James Miller told him on October that his request could not be accommodated due to a pending audit that has frozen the church's retirement fund. AARP Foundation legally represents a number of retired clergy from the AME who depend on the pension to pay monthly bills, and the foundation has petitioned to transition the litigation into a class action lawsuit on behalf of as many as 5,000 retirees. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Dr. The Christian Post reached out to the AME Church for comment on the complaint. 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Your email address will not be published. AME Church faces $90M class-action lawsuit related to retiree - TheGrio Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. UCC elects first woman and first woman of African descent to lead denomination, How the Supreme Courts conservative majority is making new rules for minorities, Copyright 2023, Religion News Service. Jerome V. Harris, former executive director of the church's Department of Retirement Services. Presiding Elder Meadows . Pastors representing church employees in the consolidated action allege negligence and breach of fiduciary duty against AMEC and retirement plan manager Dr. Jerome Harris, as well as the church's. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Harris is accused of depositing funds from the plan into his personal checking account. Harris' first pastoral charge was the Dunston Chapel AME. With the help of our legal team, the AMEC community is committed to holding those responsible accountable and recovering embezzled funds.. Other defendants named in the complaint are cross-defendant Symetra Financial Corporation, and third-party defendants Robert Eaton, Jarrod Erwin, Randall Erwin, Financial Freedom Group, Inc., Motorskill Asia Venture Group, Motorskill Asia Ventures 1, LP, Motorskill Venture Group, Motorskill Ventures 1, LP, and Rodney Brown & Company. This financial crime has been committed against the AME Church community, and specifically our clergy and Church employees, said Bishop Anne Henning Byfield, president of the AME Churchs Council of Bishops, in a statement. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 stipulated that management and investment decisions should be made solely for the benefit of participants, which Harris did not adhere to. BLACK ENTERPRISE is the premier business, investing, and wealth-building resource for African Americans. Harris) and ten other individuals and entities some of which were involved in a sophisticated scheme to embezzle funds and defraud the AMECs Ministerial Retirement Annuity Plan. The cross-complaint treats afinancial advisor named Robert Eaton as basically a coconspirator ofHarris. Rev. Required fields are marked *. }
This article was written by Paul Brown for Protestia. Lawsuits over pensions in AME Church move forward - The Tennessean Federal authorities are involved in a financial crimes investigation, indicating that fraud is suspected. Harris could not be reached immediately for comment. Your email address will not be published. 2024 General Conference Proposed Legislation Form, Past Presidents of The Council of Bishops, AME Church Files Lawsuit Against Former Department of Retirement Services Executive Director Dr. Harris and Others for Conspiracy to Defraud and Embezzle Clergy Retirement Funds, https://www.ame-church.com/news/important-update-on-amec-retirement-services/, Preserving Black Churches Grants Available, Dr. Your email address will not be published. The problem of where ancient Jerusalem was built gets thornier, Thousands protest in Iraq for a second day over burning of Quran in Sweden. On Sept. 13, 2021, he requested a rollover of his funds from the church's plan to an individual retirement account. Rt. "Defendant Harris initially invested $1.5 million of the Plan's assets in the undeveloped land, reflecting a loss of $500,000 and providing merit to the pejorative phrase 'Florida land deal,'" the complaint noted. The defendants in the lawsuit include Jerome V. Harris, the former executive director of the church's Department of Retirement Services, and South Carolina Bishop Samuel L. Green, the former.

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