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A Pastor who once served as the “religious adviser” to President George W. Bush has now been indicted on 13-counts by a federal grand jury in Shreveport, Louisiana for what federal prosecutors claim was a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud investors.

According to ABC News, the megachurch Pastor Kirbyjohn Caldwell, and his business partner, Gregory Smith, were explicitly engaged in a scheme of both theft and fraud.

The pair would promote a pyramid scheme involving worthless Chinese bonds through a clever and manipulative attempt to guarantee the profit to the investors in which they approached with promises of fortune, when in fact the duo was fully aware that what they were selling held no value whatsoever.

The Chinese Government hasn't actually offered the type bonds for sale that Caldwell and company were promoting as being valuable to the public since the 1940’s, but as of 2013, the complete Communist takeover has long-since been in effect in China and the bonds were worthless.

That's when federal prosecutors claim Caldwell began his efforts to defraud the public, intentionally targeting the elderly with promises of extreme wealth on returns for their investments, knowing that the ill-informed gullible men and women would fall victim to their despicable scheming.

During their efforts, it's believed that Caldwell was such a silver-tongued master of manipulation that he was able to sell a shocking $3.5 million dollars worth of the worthless bonds, in a get-rich-quick scheme that certainly filled his own pockets, but did nothing for the unsuspecting patrons who fell for his trap hook, line, and sinker.

Both the Securities and Exchange Commission issued an Indictment, along with an adjoining second civil lawsuit against Caldwell and Smith, claim that the dastardly duo of deceptive criminals not only never returned a single penny to investors but never had any intention of doing so in the hopes that the elderly individuals schemed out of millions of dollars would eventually pass away without any interest in their profits.

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The lawsuit says that when concerned callers would attempt to reach Caldwell and Smith they'd make empty promises of payments coming soon, knowing there was never any return possible.

According to court filings, Caldwell encouraged investors to "remain faithful and that they would receive their money. Caldwell also used religious references to give investors hope they would soon be repaid."

Caldwell is nationally renown, serving as one of President Bush’s person “spiritual advisers,” and is listed as a limited partner with the billionaire-investor Bob McNair’s Houston Texans NFL football team, who is also a closely aligned business partner and family friend of the Bush family.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lantwitterg="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Delighted to see my friend Bob McNair and meet new <a href="https://twitter.com/HoustonTexans?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HoustonTexans</a> head coach Bill O'Brien & his lovely wife Colleen. <a href="http://t.co/iGEJDVvuRK">pic.twitter.com/iGEJDVvuRK</a></p>— George Bush (@GeorgeHWBush) <a href="https://twitter.com/GeorgeHWBush/status/422786117071409152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2014</a></blockquote>

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Federal prosecutors stated that the bonds were actually collector's items. "These bonds were issued by the former Republic of China prior to losing power to the communist government in 1949," U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook said in a statement. "They are not recognized by China's current government and have no investment value."

The 64-year-old Pastor attended both of President George W. Bush’s inauguration ceremonies, and even went to the 2008 wedding of Bush’s daughter Jenna, being a close confidant to the former President.

Unsurprisingly, he also endorsed Barack Obama for the White House in 2008 against Senator John McCain (R-AZ), in a dramatic turn from Republican to Democrat.

Caldwell and Smith lured in 29 total investors for whom federal prosecutors claim the majority of were elderly individuals.

Smith would tell the investors their money was "risk-free" and "guaranteed" and that he had invested some $250,000 in them personally, none of which was true.

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"Although many investors did not understand the investment, they ultimately trusted Smith and took comfort in the fact that a high-profile pastor was offering the investment," the complaint reads.

One investor put in $800,000 himself, claiming Smith wrongly promised him that the bonds were backed with gold and silver.

"Instead of investing the funds, the defendants used them to pay personal loans, credit card balances, mortgages, vehicle purchases and other expenses," Van Hook, the prosecutor, said

If convicted the pair could serve 20 years for the various counts of wire fraud and 10 years for money laundering, and an additional $1 million in fines alongside reimbursement.

Additional Sources:

http://abc13.com/3280073/?sf185850208=1

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