Winans Is Handed Prison Term For His Ponzi Scheme
Said to Exploit Churches for $8 Million

 

By CALVIN S. SCRIBNER
Special to the Chronicle

 

DETROIT—A popular gospel-singing scion of the Winans family was sentenced last week to nearly 14 years in federal prison for orchestrating an $8 million Ponzi scheme on churches.
Michael Winans Jr., 30, was sentenced by Federal District Judge Sean Cox on Feb. 20.
“Fraud on good, decent church-going people….that was very, very troubling to me,” the judge said.
Judge had read some of the 50 letters written by victims of the scheme, who said Mr. Winans ruined their lives when he convinced them from church pulpits that he would be investing their money in Saudi Arabian crude oil bonds.
Victims said they’ve experienced ruined relationships with family members, who they convinced to invest with Mr. Winans, as well as broken marriages, death threats and loss of their homes.
In one case, a young woman enrolled in the military because she lost her college tuition because she invested in the scheme.
Mr. Winans, who was once nominated for a Grammy Award, had collected $8 million from more than 1,000 investors from Oct. 2007, to Sept. 2008, through his connections with church congregations in Michigan.
He often collected $1,000 to $7,000 from congregations, promising duped investors they would receive 100 percent returns in a matter of months.
Federal investigators said Mr. Winans, instead, used the millions for personal expenses and to pay off previous investors.
At one point, Mr. Winans did learn that the crude oil bonds were fake, but went on collecting money from investors, prosecutors said.
The nephew of award-winning singers Bebe Winans and Cece Winans pleaded guilty in October to wire fraud and promised to repay each investor.
According to reports, about 600 investors are waiting for $8.4 million to be repaid.
In court last week, Mr. Winans “repented” and insisted that he carried out the scheme in good faith, wanting to help people better their lives.
“[I caused] financial and emotional damage,” he told Judge Cox, according to the Detroit Free Press. “For that, I repent.”
Mr. Winans added that there was no “malicious intent on my part….I wanted people to have a good life.”
The gospel singer “used religion,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Abed Hammoud said. “He used the good reputation of the church, the good reputation of the family” to fool his victims.
The disgraced recording artist and music producer, who has worked with Chris Brown and other artists, was sentenced to 13 years and nine months in federal prison and ordered to make restitution.
He could’ve been sentenced to as much as 15 ½ years for the crimes.
William Hatchett, Mr. Winans’ lawyer, has insisted that no other Winans family members were involved in the Ponzi scheme.
The Winans case is similar to another Christian church leader.
“Bishop” Eddie Long, leader of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Georgia, is being sued by 12 former church-members for encouraging them to invest with Ephren Taylor.
Mr. Taylor is wanted by federal authorities for allegedly stealing $11 million from unsuspecting investors.
Court records say that Mr. Long was warned about Mr. Taylor’s alleged scheme nearly two weeks before his scheduled appearance at the Lithonia, Ga., megachurch.
Mr. Taylor, who is wanted along with his father and another family member for similar crimes, is, apparently, on the run.