According to the Department of Justice, a pastor from New Orleans pled guilty on Tuesday to money laundering and acknowledged to scamming donors of nearly $900,000 intended for his church.
Prosecutors allege that Rev. Charles Southall III, executive pastor of First Emanuel Baptist Church in New Orleans, misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars to his personal accounts.
In a Facebook Live prayer session held following his court appearance on Tuesday, Southall apologized to his congregation and stated that he had not engaged in money laundering, but had pleaded guilty to “anything that violated banking laws.”
Outside of business hours, the attorney for Southall did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
According to court documents reviewed by Insider, Southall solicited and transferred repeated large payments intended for the church to his own account.
According to authorities, one victim donated a tithe of $10,000 and another victim gave donations totaling $106,408.38, which were intended for charity and to refurbish the church building.
According to prosecutors, Southall collected an additional $150,000 from rent on church properties and $537,805.51 from the sale of other church properties.
According to the DOJ, he also received $85,351.97 from a school construction project that never materialized. In 2013, his church raised funds for a school in Baton Rouge and recruited an unnamed consultant, Person A, to assist with project management.
Prosecutors claim that Person A’s contributions flowed into an account jointly controlled by Southall and Person A, allowing Southall to spend the funds for himself.
The DOJ assessed that Southall collected a total of $889,565.86 through his scams.
They stated that Southall used the funds to pay credit card bills, purchase a car for $95,000, put a down payment of $10,764.11 on another vehicle, and open a personal investing account with JP Morgan.
Saturday, a judge ordered him to surrender a 2017 Mercedes-Benz convertible and $100,000, according to records obtained by Insider.
Tuesday, Southall hosted a Facebook live prayer session in which he discussed the court’s decision, stating that it had been a “very tough” day but contesting the Justice Department’s definition of money laundering.
He stated, “It was not money laundering at all.” “It was something that violated banking laws that I pleaded against. Because they claim it was illegal for me to transfer funds from one of my accounts to another of my accounts. That is my petition.”
He went on to say: “According to the law, I have committed several infractions, for which I am deeply sorry and concerned. But I accepted responsibility… for the wrongdoing. I did not believe so. However, it violated federal banking laws.”
The DOJ stated that Southall, who has led the church since 1989, faces a maximum of 10 years in jail and a fine of up to $250,000, in addition to having to repay the stolen funds to his victims and the church.