ANOTHER PASTOR GOES TO PRISON FOR MISUSING CORONAVIRUS PLAGUE FUNDS TO PURCHASE A TESLA AND OTHER UNNECESSARY THINGS. PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, MARYLAND, PASTOR RUDOLPH BROOKS IS SENTENCED TO 18 MONTHS IN PRISON
PICTURED: An advertisement for the church lists Brooks as ‘senior pastor’
A Prince George’s County man, who sometimes worked as a pastor improperly used coronavirus relief funds to purchase a Tesla and personal property, was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Rudolph Brooks, 48, was charged in 2021 and authorities said he obtained more than $3.5 million in CARES Act Payroll Protection Program loans. Brooks surrendered his passport shortly after being charged, court records show.
He pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering on Aug. 27 of this year, according to court records.
As part of his sentencing, Brooks was ordered to forfeit more than $2 million, the 2018 Tesla Model 3 he purchased, and property he bought in Upper Marlboro.
An attorney listed for Brooks in online court records did not return a request for comment. The Justice Department announced the sentencing this week.
The scheme
Between April 2020 and May 2021, Brooks schemed to “unjustly enrich himself” by fraudulently obtaining PPP loans and to conceal his misappropriation by laundering those funds, according to a stipulation of facts Brooks agreed to as part of his plea agreement.
Around May 9, 2020, Brooks submitted an application for a PPP loan for a business called Cars Direct by Gavawn HWD Bob’s Motors (Cars Direct) for $1.5 million. He falsely said the company had an average monthly payroll of about $620,000 and 10 employees — facts that were “grossly inflated” according to the stipulation.
While securing the loan, Brooks created and submitted a fraudulent IRS tax form. By May 12, the money was deposited into a bank account that Brooks was the only signer on.
Cars Direct was first incorporated in 2010 but forfeited in 2012. Brooks revived the incorporation around May 28, 2020, according to the court documents — weeks after submitting the application for the PPP loan.
Also in May, Brooks submitted another loan application for Kingdom Tabernacle of Restoration Ministries, a church where he sometimes served as a pastor.
The amount requested on the loan application $1.8 million. Once again, Brooks “grossly inflated” the number of employees working there and the annual payroll. The money was again deposited into a bank account where Brooks was the only signer.
Brooks also applied for, and received, a $204,000 loan for a company called Madaro LLC, again in a bank account where he was the only signer. Madaro was not a registered business at the time, according to court records.
In total, Brooks received more than $3.5 million on the basis of “false and fraudulent” loan applications.
The stipulation of facts says Brooks also tried to get money through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program through Cars Direct and Kingdom Tabernacle. In both cases, the EIDL applications were rejected by the Small Business Administration, which cited unsatisfactory credit history.
Brooks applied for the rejected EIDL loans in April, but the rejections did not come through until May 18, court records say.
Brooks used the money to purchase groceries and retail goods, to withdraw cash and to make purchases at restaurants, and, according to court records, used $60,407 to purchase a 2018 Tesla Model 3 and about $507,000 to purchase property in Upper Marlboro.
PPP loans were meant to be used for payroll costs, mortgage interest, rent and utilities, not personal or other business expenses.
The District of Maryland Strike Force established by the Department of Justice is one of three in the country dedicated to investigating and prosecuting COVID-19 fraud, including fraud related to the CARES Act, according to DOJ.
Anyone can report suspected fraud related to COVID-19 disaster relief online or by calling 866-720-5721.
IF YOU WERE TO DIE TODAY, WHERE WOULD YOU GO: HEAVEN OR HELL? IF YOU’RE NOT SURE, “BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED” FOR JESUS CHRIST SAID THE MOST IMPORTANT WORDS EVER SPOKEN IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD WHEN HE SAID, “FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.” READ FURTHER RIGHT HERE:
THE BIG QUESTION
GOSPEL LIGHT MINUTE X #447 WITH DANIEL WHYTE III
This is the “Chief of sinners,” Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International, with the Gospel Light Minute X Podcast #447 titled, “The Big Question” I’m here to remind you of what the Bible says, that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” like you and me.
“HAVE YOU BEEN BORN AGAIN?”
The question is not “Have you joined a church?” or “Are you trying to do your best?” or “Do you have religion?” but “Are you twice-born?” Jesus Christ said in John 3:3, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”.
We enter the physical world by birth. Spiritual life likewise is entered with a birth. We become members of a human family by birth; we become members of the family of God by birth, by being “born again.” There is no other way to get into the human family except by birth, and there is no other way to get into God’s family except by the new birth. Neither education, nor cultivation, nor reformation, nor “turning over a new leaf,” will accomplish this. What is needed is not a new “leaf” but a new “life”! “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7).
A New Nature Needed
By physical birth we become partakers of human nature; by being born again we become “partakers of the divine nature”. A Christian is the product of a divine “begetting”. The second birth is not an improvement of the old nature; it is the imparting of an entirely new nature. The old nature is hopelessly corrupt and incapable of ever being made fit for His presence. The new birth requires a creative act of the Holy Spirit. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature”.
Not “Trying” But “Trusting”
“Trying to follow Christ” is not Christianity. Christianity is not imitation of Christ, it is the indwelling of Christ. Christianity is not trying to do anything. It is trusting Christ Who has done it all! He has “finished the work” and there is nothing left to do but simply to receive and trust Him. He shed His precious blood on the cross and the work is all done once and forever! Cease trying and begin trusting! Believers will progressively become more and more like Christ, but by His power, not their own.
What Must I Do To Be Saved?
Simply “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ”. The Bible says in 1 John 5:1, “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God”. The Bible states in John 1:12,13, “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”.
You are born again, you become a Christian by trusting a Person—receiving a Person. The very moment you do this, the Lord Jesus Christ comes in and life begins!
What Is Meant By “Believe”?
To “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” means more than simply believing the historic facts concerning Him. Intellectual belief about Christ is not sufficient. The belief that brings salvation must be “with the heart,” that is, with the whole being. This belief also includes repentance: “Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ”. The Bible states in Acts 17:30, “God … now commandeth all men every where to repent”.
The faith which saves, then, includes the necessity to repent, and to receive Christ as Saviour and Lord, to rest upon Him alone for salvation. It means to trust Him so utterly and completely that, if He should fail, there would be no hope at all!
May I Know That I Am Born Again?
This is an important question. We know that we are born again by the testimony of God’s Word. God says in John 5:24, “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life”. Have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as explained by God’s Word? If so, then you are saved, you are “born again,” you have “passed from death unto life.” God says so! Take God at His Word, and go on your way rejoicing!
One Final Word
You may “belong to a church,” you may be “trying to do the best you can,” you may be “striving to live right.” Your outward life may be the model of moral correctness, and you may be looked up to, honored, revered, and respected. Yet, if you have not been “born again” you are just as lost as if you had never heard of Christ. Yes, you may teach in the Sunday school, read the Bible, sing, shout, “feel happy,” and all the rest—but if you have never been “born again” you are still in your sins and a stranger to the Lord Jesus Christ!.
If you want to be saved from the wrath to come and from an eternity in Hell, and if you believe that Jesus Christ suffered, bled, and died on the cross for your sins, was buried, and rose again from the dead and you are willing to trust Jesus Christ with all of your heart so you can go to Heaven, please pray with me what is called the sinner’s prayer: Holy Father God, I acknowledge that I am a sinner and I admit that I have sinned against You and that I have broken Your Ten Commandments. I have lied before. I have stolen things before. I have lusted after people and things before. I have dishonored and disobeyed my parents. I have taken Your holy Name in vain. For Jesus Christ’s sake, please have mercy and grace upon my soul and forgive me of all of my sins, my failures, and my faults. As I now believe in Your Holy Son the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that He suffered, bled, and died on the cross for my sins, was buried and rose again. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and help me to repent of my sins past. Help me to turn from my old, evil life and follow You in the new life. For it is in Your Name I pray. Amen.
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