Ten New Birth Baptist Church parishioners lost more than a million dollars after investing in a company endorsed by Bishop Eddie Long, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in DeKalb County state court.
The suit charges that in October 2009, Bishop Long held a 3-day investment seminar at which he introduced City Capital Corporation’s then-CEO, Ephren Taylor to his congregation. Church members were encouraged to invest their hard-earned cash in the company, attorney Jason Doss told the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
“I am responsible for everyone I bring before you and what they say,” Long said at the seminar, according to the lawsuit. “The gentleman that I am going to bring before you is an ordained minster. That gives me great pride to bring him for you.”
Long was probably aware of the impending litigation when he uploaded a video to YouTube on Feb. 2, 2011 pleading with the investment company to “do what’s right” and return the invested money with interest.
He claimed neither he nor the church benefited financially from City Capitol Corporation.
But both the church and Long were compensated for their roles in soliciting the investments, the lawsuit contends.
The suit alleges that Taylor’s company was failing when he persuaded Long to help him bilk church members. Co-counsel Quinton Seay said the plaintiffs lost their life savings to the scam.
“It’s a terrible thing, especially when you suffer a loss like that from your church and your pastor,” Seay said late Wednesday. “A lot of them have been members at New Birth Baptist for a very long time. They were given some extremely bad advice.”
The investment scam lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal action taken against the embattled preacher who earlier this year settled a lawsuit filed by 5 of his former parishioners for sexual misconduct.
