Ohio Pastor Allegedly Stole a Woman's Savings After Asking Her to be His "Business Partner&

We've all heard stories about some crooked pastor who takes the bounty of the collection plate and uses it for himself well. . .this case is even worse.

We spoke with a woman in Columbus, Ohio just last week who says that a local pastor stole thousands of dollars of her mother's savings leaving her almost destitute.

This case first landed in our lap while we were scrolling through Facebook. We came across a post that called out the individual by name and pointed out the despicable deeds!

Here's how it happened:

The pastor (who we are deliberately not naming) ran a childcare center and was advertising for a partner. The victim had just received a large severance from a telecommunications company that was downsizing. The victim was looking to invest her money because she was nearing the age of retirement and thought that this would be solid.

According to the victim's daughter, her mother gave the pastor $10,000 after visiting the center. She also decided to work at the center for a short time just to help out. That's when she noticed that everything she was originally told was a lie.

The pastor ALLEGEDLY told her that there were 20 children enrolled at the center and that she'd make her investment back in no time. There were, at times, less than 10 children at the center and NO TEACHERS. That's when she was left holding the bag and teaching the children. That lasted for about two weeks until she demanded that he hire someone who was trained to teach the children.

The victim also says that the children were only fed chicken nuggets and 2% milk even though the owner gave parents a menu that was designed by a "nutritionalist". The gas in the facility was turned off and the children had no hot water. In the summer months there was no air conditioning. The center also had well water and the staff was instructed to clean, or make, bottles for infants with the unsterile water.

It gets worse. . .

The 20 children that were claimed were ALLEGEDLY marked in attendance even on days when they weren't there or the center was closed. This means there should have been money flowing in right? Wrong! The victim's daughter says that they were rarely paid properly and her mother NEVER received a return on her investment.

Once they got word from former employees about the pastor's constant money mishaps they decided it was time to ask for the money back and chalk up the loss. That's when the pastor blocked both of them on social media and stopped taking and returning their calls.

The pair reached out to the man's wife and she did the same.

The pastor, originally from Africa, has closed the center and seemingly dropped off of the face of the earth.

The center listing on social media has been taken down and put up so many times we've all lost count BUT they are still advertising for a partner even though the center is now closed. They've dropped the asking price a bit in hopes of snagging more potential prey.

The victim in this case has lost almost everything and is just a few dollars away from being homeless. We've put them in touch with some legal council and hopefully they'll be able to at least sue him for what they lost.

We reached out to the alleged scammer and got no response.

It's a sad day when people use the covering of religion to steal from their neighbors.

Let this be a lesson to us all, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Let's pray she gets her money back.