FLINT, MI – A Flint-area pastor is accused of embezzling money from a 91-year-old man to purchase a pontoon, a vehicle, and to take casino trips.

Raymond M. Vliet Jr., 55, of Flint has been arraigned on single counts of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult $20,000 or more but less than $50,000 and stealing or removing a financial transaction device.

Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell said the charges came after a loan officer at ELGA Credit Union became suspicious when Vliet attempted to take out a loan for a pontoon boat.

The loan officer declined the request, even with Vliet showing her the power of attorney the victim had signed, Pickell said.

The alleged victim has dementia and is a member of Vliet’s church, Old Beth-el General Baptist Church off Bangor Avenue in Mt. Morris Township.

“We further learned that (Vliet) took the victim to another credit union, where they obtained a loan in the 91-year-old guy’s name for a pontoon,” said Pickell, along with a loan for a Jeep to pull the boat. “The pastor couldn’t get the loan in his name because he had such a poor credit rating.”

It’s alleged Vliet took out another loan in the man’s name to pay the note on the pontoon, an additional $200 to pay some bills, and cashed in a $4,000 life insurance policy for trips to casinos to, as Pickell said, “live the high life of a bachelor.”

“He used his disguise masquerading as a pastor to swindle these people,” said Pickell of the man and his wife, who signed over a modular home to the church and has since died. Vliet’s girlfriend was serving as caretaker, he said.

An investigation is ongoing by the sheriff’s office elder abuse team and victims’ crime unit that helped put the case together that may lead to additional charges.

Pickell asked residents with family members who are dealing with illnesses including dementia to “make sure you look in on them and you check their records every so often” to help them avoid becoming the victims of a scam.

“Don’t be trustworthy just because a person’s a clergyman, a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman, don’t be so trusting,” he said. “In this case, a pastor using God and the church to bilk them out of money. That’s a pastor that should go to hell.”

Vliet appeared in Genesee District Judge Mark C. McCabe’s courtroom Wednesday morning for a preliminary exam, but the hearing was adjourned.

When asked about the case, Fred Meiers, Vliet’s attorney, said there needs to be a further examination of the documents but added, “We don’t believe he exceeded any authority.”

A July 31 probable cause conference and preliminary exam was set by McCabe for Vliet.