DENVER, Colo. (WKRC) – A pastor claimed God told him to steal $1.3 million from Christians to renovate their homes.
Pastor Eligio Regalado was charged with civil fraud after stealing $1.3 in donations in an alleged cryptocurrency scheme, according to PEOPLE.
According to the publication, Regalado’s wife, Kaitlyn, was also charged last Thursday in a civil complaint filed in Denver District Court by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.
A Press release issued by the Colorado Securities Commissioner, claimed that Eligio Regalado and his wife created, marketed and sold a cryptocurrency known as “INDXcoin” to “members of the Christian community.”
“We allege that Mr. Regalado took advantage of the trust and faith of his own Christian community and made far-fetched promises of wealth to them by selling them essentially worthless cryptocurrencies,” the commissioner said. “New coins and exchanges are easy to create with open source code. We want to remind consumers to be very skeptical.
The alleged scheme helped the couple raise nearly $3.2 million from more than 300 people, according to the commissioner, who said the Regalados had no experience with cryptocurrency and continued to sell INDXcoin despite a third-party auditor’s report that described the cryptocurrency as “dangerous.” insecure and plagued by serious technical problems.
The complaint alleged that Regalado targeted Christians and told them that God directly told him that investors would become rich if they invested in cryptocurrency.
After being charged, the pastor insisted “the Lord told him to do it” in a video statement posted on the cryptocurrency website, which was reviewed by BNC. “Of the $1.3 million, half a million dollars went to the IRS (Internal Revenue Services), and a few hundred thousand dollars went to renovating the house that the Lord told us to do,” Regalado said, according to PEOPLE.
The video is only available to members who receive an invitation at this time. It’s unclear if this has ever been public.
“New coins and exchanges are easy to create with open source code. We want to remind consumers to be very skeptical,” warned the commissioner.
