Bishop Eddie Long is back in the headlines after several former New Birth members claim he knowingly led them into a ponzi scheme where they lost over a million bucks.   Find out more inside….

While Moses led his flock of Israelites out of Egypt…..Bishop Eddie Long allegedly led some members of his New Birth flock into financial ruin…knowingly!  

As we previously reported–In a lawsuit filed in Dekalb County state court last month, the Atlanta Journal Constitution says 12 former New Birth members claim they lost more than one million dollars investing in a ponzi scheme that was endorsed by Bishop Eddie Long.

But the shady part of the lawsuit is they alleged that the good Bishop knew it was a shady deal all along and he brought it to the church anyway.

Apparently, the Bishop’s assistant received a phone call saying that Ephren W. Taylor (the self-professed “social capitalist”) shouldn’t be trusted…but that didn’t stop the Bishop from endorsing him.

“If Bishop Eddie Long hadn’t endorsed this they wouldn’t have invested,” plaintiffs attorney Jason Doss said.

Now get this…although Bishop Long didn’t invest in the scheme, he encouraged members of the congregation to put their faith into the man whom he introduced as “friend (and) brother.”

SMH….we wonder what (kickback) Bishop Long gained from making that good faith introduction to the church?

During the suit’s discovery process, the plantiffs happened upon an internal memo to Bishop Long from his assistant where an unidentified called said he “did not want the church to be taken advantage of.”

The caller then laid out Ephren’s game plan saying he "…will issue promissory notes to the congregation which gives him legal authorization to do as he pleases. There will be no return on investment.”

And guess what….that’s EXACTLY how it all went down!  And reportedly, Bishop Eddie Long was warned about this before he ever brought Brother Ephren into the church fold. SMH.

According to Channel 2 Action News, plaintiff Lillian Wells (who invested $122,000) said, “That was my everything, and that’s it, it’s gone.” She adds that Ephren claimed to be a self-made millionaire by the time he turned 16.

The Securities and Exchange Commission now has a civil case pending against Ephren, who’s alleged to have targeted more than 1,000 investors, mostly church members.  The money was spent to fund his lavish lifestyle AND his wife’s singing career.

The former members have named Bishop Long, Ephren Taylor and New Birth as defendants.  And if they win, it will be the second case the Bishop has lost against former members.  You’ll recall, he reportedly paid off a few young male members who claim to have had "relations" with him.
 

In the name of sweet baby Jesus…..this is just messy.