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Far-Right Cult Mind Control and International Money Laundering at Koran-Burning Church

Alex Constantine - September 12, 2010

polls peace dove 3840 210525 poll xlarge2 274x300 - Far-Right Cult Mind Control and International Money Laundering at Koran-Burning ChurchRelated: "Maranatha Christians, Backing Rightist Ideas, Draw Fire Over Tactics"
"Ex-Maranatha Pastor’s 'Islam is of the Devil' Book Published by Stephen Strang"
"CNP's Robert Weiner and Maranatha"
"News Articles published about Maranatha Ministries"
"History of Maranatha & Every Nation"

The symbol of the poltically-right Maranatha Ministries is a dove  - Terry Jones's Dove World Outreach Center, as explained below, is a spin-0ff of Maranatha. - AC

 An interesting in depth analysis.
What that 'church' is doing is not about Islam or Christianity,
its about personal greed of the pastor and his wife, and their lifetime of
scamming folks out of money.
Yeah, its a DailyKos article, but read it anyway.
WARNING: Money-launderers using muslims as red herrings.

by 8ackgr0und N015e

... "The religion gig?  That's just the first level in this con artist's  layer cake.  The book burning event is merely a marketing ploy to  support his money machine.  Sounds harsh?  Let me show you what a  multi-million dollar money laundering operation looks like, complete  with shell corporations.

 People have used the power of religion to con other people in  civilizations around the world throughout the centuries.  I'm not saying  religion is a con.  I'm saying it is a powerful tool that can be used  to con people if you are so inclined.  Professional con artists know  this all too well.  Whole books have been written on the psychology of  con games that use religion as bait.  Religion as a con game didn't  start with Elmer Gantry.  ...

Most con games -- even the religious variety -- are strictly cash and  carry operations.  Fleece the mark and move on.  But if you want to set  this up as an ongoing proposition, you need a credible cover story and  you need a way to clean up the money trail.  Terry and Sylvia Jones are  experts at working this angle.

Let's look at Terry and Sylvia Jones of Gainesville, FL. 

Everyone  knows Terry D. Jones is the pastor at the Dove World Outreach Center.   Sylvia, his wife, is also a senior pastor at the same church. 

Let's look at some other businesses located at 5805 Northwest 37th Street, Gainesville, FL 32653.

In addition to that duly registered religious institution we find the following -- for profit entities:

TSC Moving.

It's not just the same address.  It's the same phone number.  Three  guesses what the T and S in TSC refer to.  Here's a hint Terry and  Sylvia are the owners of this company that "specializes in transporting  vintage furniture throughout the entire Southeast, Gulf Coast, Mid-West  and East coast of the United States."  That's a lot of area.  TSC Moving  is a division of TS and  Company, LLC.  TS and Company, LLC is a for profit venture.  What do  you think the "TS" in TS and Company, LLC stands for?  Here's a hint.   Terry and Sylvia are officers in TS and Company, LLC, a company they formed in 2007.

If TSC Moving is a division of TS and Company, LLC, what does the TS and Co. do? Good question:

 TS and Company is a Christian company seeking a qualified property  manager for rental properties in the Phoenix and Pineridge neighborhoods  of Gainesville.

 That is how they describe themselves in their job listing at the Christian Career Center.   That particular listing was for a property manager.  The contact  information?  Same address and phone number as the Dove World Outreach  Center.

 Interested parties should call 352-372-1702 to state their interest  in the position, and then come to 5805 NW 37th, Gainesville, FL 32653 on  Thursday, May 13th, at 2pm for an interview. At that time we will  discuss all further details of the position and select the most eligible  candidate for the job.

 Job duties?

 Duties would include minor repair and maintenance as well as managing  tenants and collecting rent. Compensation will include free rent  plus...

 So let's recap.  So far, we have a nonprofit church, a for profit  furniture moving company, a for profit real estate operation that  includes rental properties, and a for profit property management  operation all operating out of the same location.  All owned and  operated by Terry and Sylvia Jones.

But wait, there's more.  Let's talk about the furniture.  Turns out  there is also a company selling furniture called TS and Company Design.   They advertise, among other places on Do Great Good, offering their services over craigslist.

If you go back to the home page on TSC Moving, you will notice they take Ebay payments.  It should come as no surprise TS and Company Design, has a store on Ebay.

Who is TS and Company Design?

 Welcome to TS and Company
We are a Christian Company : That is shown in the Business, Mentality, Motivation, Vision and Service of TS & Company.

TS and Company - 5805 NW 37th St. - Gainesville, FL 32653 - info@tsandcompanydesign.com

 That address should be familiar by now.  Although they have not been  running any operations for the last several months, they do have a  feedback score of 9264.  That means that at least 9,264 people  have done business with them on ebay and left positive feedback.  That's  a lot of transactions.  All of them for furniture.  That's a lot of  furniture.  We'll talk about where the furniture comes from in a minute,  but let's look at what TS and Company Design says on its ebay page  about their operation:

 We are a Christian company: That is shown in the Business, Mentality,  Motivation, Vision and Service of TS & Company. For example, our  earnings are used to support Christian Organizations such as the Lisa  Jones House in Gainesville, Florida, which helps those in need with  things like bread, clothing, food, and furniture.  For more information,  please visit the Lisa Jones House at www.lisajoneshouse.com

 Ah... this sounds like we are dealing with a revenue arm of a  nonprofit doesn't it?  Read that blurb again, and you will see the sweet  ambiguity...  "our earnings are used to support Christian Organizations  such as the Lisa Jones House in Gainesville, Florida" ... They are not  saying they support the Lisa Jones House, they support Christian  Organizations that include Lisa Jones House.  They are not supporting Christian churches.  They are supporting Christian organizations.  TSC Moving is "a Christian company" that specializes in moving  furniture.  How much you want to bet, TS and Company Design supports TSC  Moving, a subsidiary of TS and Company, LLC?

Now lest anyone think I am casting aspersions on the work of Lisa  Jones House, I am not.  For the record, it is located at....wait for  it...

 5805 NW 37th St
Gainesville, FL 32653

 Although they are prominently displayed on the Dove World Outreach site,  they do have a different phone number.  There are two components of the  Lisa Jones House that need to be separated.  First is their primary  mission:

 The Lisa Jones House reaches out to hundreds of people each week  offering free food and clothing to everyone in the community to has a  need.

 Second is their way of supporting this charitable operation:

 We accept Donations of furniture and household goods which are sold  inexpensively or given away as there is a need. We offer free pick-up  for donations.

 Free furniture which they sell or give away.  How much you want to  bet some of that furniture is being sold on ebay by TS and Company  Design?  How much you want to bet some of that furniture is being  transported by TSC Moving, a subsidiary of TS and Company,LLC?

So far, that sounds like a perfectly legit operation.  At worst,  someone is sloppy in commingling resources because they have a  shoestring operation. 

Except we have at least one ebay store with  almost 10,000 transactions.  And a rental operation with multiple  properties.  How much are the properties worth?

 Well, one property  currently on sale is located at 5805 37th Street, Gainesville, FL.  The  asking price?  $2,900,000.  

This commercial property is zoned for multifamily use and in addition  to the 17,200 sq foot building, there is also 20 acres of land in the  parcel.

Why is this up for sale?  The answer may be found in this piece of local news,

 Papers mailed to the church from RBC bank state due to the center's financial situation, they no longer want them as a client.

  The accompanying TV video shows a shot of the letter wherein RBC calls in their loans with this opening paragraph:

 This is to inform you we would like to exit the banking relationship with Dove Charimatic Ministries, Inc., and TS and Co. Dove Charismatic Ministries, Inc.[emphasis  added] Due to the material adverse change in your financial condition,  we are asking that you move your entire financial relationship to  another institution.

 Wow. 

A church worth millions of dollars is being used as a  headquarters for operating multiple businesses that do thousands of  transactions across large regions of the United States and the bank is  all of a sudden threatening legal action to collect on collateralized  loans?  

Maybe the "adverse change" in financial situation is they have  jeapordized their nonprofit status by commingling their operations with  for profit operations. 

How could that happen with a church that has  been around decades?

Because Terry and Sylvia weren't associated with this church until  recently.  Talk to Action, a site dedicated to monitoring the rise of  the dominionist movement, recently researched Terry and Sylvia since they first made headlines with their "Islam is of the Devil" campaign.

 Before taking up the leadership of the Dove World Outreach  Center(DWOC) in 2007, Jones ran the Christliche Gemeinde Koln (Cologne  Christian Church, also known as the "Evangelical Christian Church"),  which he had founded in 1983. However, he also had long-standing links  with DWOC's founder, Donald Northrup. According to a memoir by  Northrup's widow Dolores (who has a website here, and whose book is on  Google Books), both Northrup and Jones were involved with Maranatha  Ministries, which collapsed in 1989 amid allegations of authoritarianism  and abuse.

Maranatha decided to establish its HQ in Gainesville, and Dolores  writes that she and her husband came to the town at Maranatha's request.  Jones, meanwhile, was sent to Germany to create a Maranatha branch  there. As last year's profile of Jones in the Gainesville Sun shows,  accusations of authoritarianism have dogged Jones both in Germany and at  the DWOC.

 What happened in Germany?  According to an interview in The Voice,  a dominionist magazine, Jones claims he went there because he had a  vision from God to "Go to Germany. Go and build My church."  He went  there to build an apostolic church, the mission of which he describes as

 The nature of the apostolic church is to take back, to build up, to  destroy. The nature of the apostolic church is to restore the Kingdom of  God. Because of that nature, as a whole, the apostolic church, I  believe, is not very welcomed.

 He is right about not being welcomed in Germany.  However, it had nothing to do with his religious beliefs.  As Mohammad Abassi notes in his story:

 When the Germans invited the Joneses to leave their country it had  more to do with things like "tax evasion," disregard for child labor  laws, misuse of church funds, charges of cultism, and lying about the  largely decorative use of the "Dr." prefix that Jones appends to his  name and which Germans take rather seriously (and for which he  ultimately paid a fine of 3000).

 Jones was kicked out of Germany, but the church stayed intact and  continues to operate to this day.  However, Abbasi goes on to note:

 In case anyone finds those rumors hyberbolic or unsubstantiated, Emma  Jones, Dr. Terrys estranged daughter is happy to corroborate and  expand upon the sins of the father. Actually, its pretty evident from  the attention that Jones is getting here in the US, lately, that he has  simply moved his religion-for-profit business to Gainesville, FL

 That brings us back full circle. 

What sort of operations was he  running in Germany?  The same one he is running in Florida.  According  to a report in the Gainesville Sun,

 Former church members who have worshiped under senior pastors Terry  and Sylvia Jones are speaking out about what they describe as financial  abuses at the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville and its sister  church in Cologne, Germany, founded by Terry Jones in 1981 and closed in  2008.

The paper says that by all accounts - the church's Web site,  interviews with current and former members and Terry Jones' own  description - the church in Gainesville, as was the one in Germany, is  structured with a for-profit business operating out of tax-exempt church  property, using the unpaid labor of church members to maintain a steady  stream of merchandise for sale online.

That structure has raised questions with the Alachua County Property  Appraiser's Office, which has said it will investigate the church's  tax-exempt status. The value of the land and buildings located at the  Dove World Outreach Center, 5805 N.W. 37th St., is assessed at $1.6  million and is wholly exempt from taxes.

Interestingly, entwined with the church's message is a theme  stressing obedience to senior pastors and work for the Kingdom of God - a  theme that persuaded one couple from Germany to work full time and  uncompensated for Terry and Sylvia Jones' business, TS and Company. The  business sells vintage furniture on eBay.

 Let's look at that furniture for a second. 

In one interview, Jones  explained they set up the moving company because "they are getting more  furniture than they can handle".  That's fine, except TS and Co. designs  is selling vintage "mid century" furniture on ebay. 

For the folks who collect furniture, you know "mid century" furniture  is a special category.  This is the wood and metal work characteristic  of designers like Charles and Ray Eames, Isamu Noguchi, Eero Saarinen,  George Nelson, and others.  This was the distinctive "Moderne" style  from the late 50s to the early 60s.  If you want a peek at it, look at  the office designed for Roger Sterling in AMC's TV show "Mad Men", that  is almost all Saarinen's stuff.

People are donating too much 'mid century' furniture?  In Germany and  now in Florida?   Where is this coming from?. 

Try Sweden. 

According to this transaction,  Terry D. Jones of .... 5805 Nw 37th St Gainesville Fl 32653... has been  doing business with Bukowskis Ab of Sweden.  The commodity?  Furniture.  

Transshipped from Bremerhaven Germany to Charleston South Carolina.   This is  just one of three transactions I found for furniture with that  company with Jones since they arrived in the US.  Bukowskis, by the  way, is an auction house. 

The guy is buying stuff abroad in places like  Sweden, transshipping through Germany, picking it up in South Carolina  and then selling it on ebay.  No problem, except the reason they created   TSC Moving was to handle DONATED furniture ... remember?

What we have is  

      a couple who take in money for allegedly religious purposes (placement) and      shuffle it around through multiple businesses across state lines and even internationally (layering).        The money then comes back in through a  variety of channels managed by for profit corporations that are  subsidiaries of an LLC owned and operated by Terry and Sylvia  (integration).        The profits are turned into multiple real estate holdings of considerable value (payday).   You have to admire this operation.  None of the holdings are in their  names.  The corporations they control own the properties.  They have  effectively used the corporate structures to insulate themselves from  any claims.  But they are in a position to derive all the benefits.

Here's where I think this is headed.

 I think these grifters are  getting ready to blow town. 

They have all but shut down their online  operations.  They are trying to sell their major real estate asset.  

They are simultaneously trying to provoke a major media event that will  put them in conflict with local government, who has expressly forbid  them from having their bookburning. 

I fully expect they will go ahead  with their shindig and when the hammer comes down, they will cry  "persecution" and flee... taking as much money as they can so they can  "start over anew in more hospitable environs"... while leaving his  fleeced flock of faithful holding the bag.

Elmer Gantry would be proud.

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