Terry Jones’ Real Estate Buying Spree Started 27 Days After Mortgaging Dove World Property

[Joanne98]

An article in Thursday’s Gainesville Sun states that Terry Jones (who just cancelled his planned burning of the Quran) owns a number of properties in the Gainesville area, but the article did not have financing information on the properties. I have searched the public records in Alachua County and found mortgage records that are a close match to the information the Sun produced on purchase records. In addition, I found mortgage records on the Dove World Outreach church property itself that show a large mortgage being taken out on the church property just 27 days before the first residential property was mortgaged in Jones’ name. These records create the impression that Jones used the mortgage of church property to fuel the purchase of a large amount of residential property in his own name.

Here is the information in the Sun:

The Joneses or their corporation, TS and Company, own six properties in the Gainesville neighborhoods of Pineridge and Phoenix, purchased between March 2006 and August 2007 for a combined total of $647,500. Financing information was not available. In addition, Terry and Sylvia Jones bought a home in Slidell, La., in January 2007 for $303,900. They also own a condo in the Paradise Island Towers Condo on Treasure Island, which was bought before Jones’ first wife died.

I searched the public records of Alachua County for mortgages under the name of Terry D. Jones. Here is what the search produced:

http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/70091

This was in the comment section.......

To answer your question:

If these properties were purchased as church investments, why are the mortgages in Jones’ name and not the church’s?

There are two sensible answers:

(A) because they are not church properties
(B) “L’eglise c’est moi” (Jones says “I am the Church”)

I’m gonna bet this is the reason behind what NPR reported as “more FBI agents than would have been needed if it was just relative to security for the Koran burning” having shown up at Jones’ place, i.e., several carloads of them came over today. They would need that number if they were, say, executing a search warrant or something.

Three more points.

First, this shows what kind of a genius this guy is. He bought all those properties at the peak of the market. He bought high.

Second, this draws my attention back to what we lawyers call “badges of fraud” when we’re dealing in the land of fraudulent transfers and embezzlement. Not saying that he did embezzle or engage in frauulent transfers, just that it kinda looks that way. Badges of fraud would include things like:

- new debt being taken out far in excess of what the debtor needs (Why would a fully paid-of church with only 40 or 50 members take out a mortgage for better than a half-million dollars? To improve the building? Where are the building permits, plans, fund drives, needs for improvements in the first place?)

- transfers of value from the debtor (church) to insiders (officers like Pastor and Mrs. Pastor), particularly where there’s no value coming back to the church in return;

- the use of names which divert from the true identities of the owners when engaged in transactions;

- no previous history of the people making this sort of transaction or investment (Was he a long time real estate investor, or did he suddenly start – and start big – into real estate investment? Why? How was he able to do so?);

- Oh, yeah: A History Of Previous Fraudulent Conduct. Big red flag.

I could go on – there are literally dozens of these badges of fraud.

But it sure looks like he cleaned out the church’s value and put it to his own use.

Third, I’m betting this publicity and the doubtless consequent shower of money is what he may have been hoping for when he started this stunt – he’s got to pay those mortgages somehow – though it certainly got way out of hand. He could have crusaded for funds to fight he evil liberals or whomever who were out to destroy his ministry or against God or whatever all the while diverting that money to cover his nut. It’s just that, when it went all Sorcerer’s Apprentice on him he had no clue on what else was going to come his way. Starting an international incident is not the way to cover up or elide a brewing embezzlement scandal – it’s the best way to make sure it erupts

[HipChick]

1. Interesting..he previously embezzled church funds to purchase a car for himself also

in Germany

[Hannah Bell]

2. Funny. How does a preacher who reportedly spent 20 years in Germany

& just started pastoring a <100-person church in the last two years wind up with millions in property?

Answer: someone else is paying him.

psyops.

[Oceansaway]

3. K&R...n/t