Former AME Zion Church bishop pleads guilty in California church property fraud scheme
A former bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church pleaded guilty in connection with a scheme using church properties throughout California to fraudulently obtain millions of dollars in loans, federal prosecutors said.
According to the , 65-year-old Staccato Powell of Wake Forest, North Carolina admitted to counts of wire fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud.
Powell, along with co-defendant Sheila Quintana of Vallejo, were indicted by a federal grand jury in 2022. Quintana pled guilty to her role in the scheme earlier this year.
Prosecutors described Powell's actions as a "far reaching scheme to obtain control of church properties in California using false statements, forged documents, concealment, and deception."
AME Zion Church selected Powell as bishop of the church's Western Episcopal District in 2016. According to court documents and the plea agreement, Powell formed an entity called the Western Episcopal District (WED, Inc.) shortly after becoming bishop. Powell instructed pastors in his district to sign deeds granting WED, Inc. the title to their congregation's property, including the church building, lots and residences used by the pastors.
Prosecutors allege that in 2017, Powell instructed Quintana and other WED, Inc. officers to obtain loans using the churches that had been signed over to the entity as collateral.
"In several instances, Powell directed WED, Inc. to use church resolutions with false statements, and directed Quintana to create the false documents and sign the resolutions in the name of an officer with the local church," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.
Among the churches Powell admitted to using in the scheme included Kyles Temple in Vallejo, First AME Zion Church in San Jose, Greater Cooper AME Zion Church in Oakland, University AME Zion Church of Palo Alto, and First AME Zion Church in Los Angeles.
The Rev. Jeff Moore, the former leader of the Silicon Valley NAACP, told CBS News Bay Area at the time of the arrests that members of the San Jose congregation contacted him after learning that Powell had plunged the church into debt.
Moore said he reached out to Powell to see if the situation could be resolved amicably and when that failed he turned the information over to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.
"It was a massive scheme to defraud the membership of that property," he told CBS News Bay Area in a January 2022 report.
Moore .
Prosecutors said Powell also diverted some of the funds borrowed by WED, Inc., using church properties as collateral for his personal benefit, including the purchase of property in North Carolina for his two children and payment of a mortgage on his home in North Carolina.
WED, Inc. filed for bankruptcy in July 2020, claiming its assets included 11 churches, a parsonage, and Powell's official residence. According to the bankruptcy petition, the entity's real property was worth more than $26 million, with debts totaling more than $12 million.
Prosecutors said Powell also agreed to pay restitution ranging from $3 million to $12,475,453 and has also agreed to forfeit his interest in the church properties.
Powell faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count. He is currently out on bond.
Sentencing in the case has been scheduled for Sept. 23.
