Raided church accused in multimillion-dollar VA fraud scheme
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - More details are coming out after the FBI raided a branch of the House of Prayer church in Augusta last summer.
In June, the FBI served a search warrant at the Assembly of Prayer church on Old Tobacco Road just outside Gate 5 of Fort Gordon. At the same time, the agency served search warrants at a sister church in the Savannah area. Similar raids took place at church facilities elsewhere in the U.S.
At the time, authorities kept a tight lid on why they executed search warrants.
EARLIER COVERAGE:
- What former say about FBI-raided church
- Ga. agency pulls GI Bill funding for church that was raided
- FBI raids Augusta church and 2 others: What we know
An investigation from the Department of Justice found the FBI and Department of Veterans Affairs accuse the House of Prayer Bible Seminary made numerous false statements to the VA to establish it as an educational religious school to secure regular payments.
A nonprofit said it had been warning about these facilities for years.
Veterans Education Success, a nonprofit that helps veterans find educational opportunities, says the House of Prayer churches committed fraud by taking GI Bill funding and not providing a proper education in return.
The church claimed to provide seminary schooling, and had more than 300 veterans enrolled for nearly a decade.
They were paid approximately $16 million from the VA for tuition, stipends and housing. The VA sent direct payments to the seminary for tuition totaling approximately $7 million.
The educational services were not performed to the standard required by the VA.
HOUSE OF PRAYER ALLEGATIONS:
Investigators accuse the so-called seminary of:
- Overstating and otherwise misrepresenting the number of hours of instruction.
- Misrepresenting the qualifications of faculty of the seminary.
- Misrepresenting the facility locations of students.
- Misrepresenting the facility locations of faculty .
- Misrepresenting the time periods over which faculty worked for the seminary.
- Misrepresenting the courses taught by faculty .
- Misrepresenting the courses available.
- Misrepresenting the manner of instruction.
- Misrepresenting the quality of instruction.
- Misrepresenting the nature of the education program, including the requirements to successfully complete the program.
The investigation seized more than $150,000 from s by South Georgia and First Citizens Bank and Trust.
Some critics of the House of Prayer, which opens churches near Army posts, claim it’s a cult that targets veterans, defrauding them of their GI Bill money.
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