Christian missionary imposter who used $30 million donations for personal gain wanted by IRS

Christian missionary imposter who used $30 million donations for personal gain wanted by IRS
Jason Gerald Shenk, Image via screengrab/WCNC.
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A Georgia man, who allegedly pretended to be a Christian missionary, could face up to 20 years in prison for allegedly misdirecting over $30 million from faith-based charities and donors to shell corporations, Christian Post reports.

"Named a fugitive by the" Internal Revenue Service (IRS) according to the report, the agency is currently searching for 45-year-old Jason Gerald Shenk, who promised donors "he would produce and distribute Christian literature and Bibles in areas throughout China."

Christian Post reports:

An unsealed federal indictment can potentially charge Shenk with four counts of wire fraud, three counts of international concealment money laundering, 13 counts of concealment money laundering, 21 counts of money laundering involving transactions greater than $10,000 and one count of failure to file a report of a foreign bank account.

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Per Christian Post, the IRS said, "Shenk allegedly used the donation money for his own personal financial gains," which "included paying about $1 million to a sports gambling site, buying equity shares of about $850,000 in a privately-held nuclear energy company and about $4 million in purchases of about 16 life insurance policies in different peoples' names."

Furthermore, Shenk spent millions on "diamonds, gold and precious medals," on "at least 10 personal credit cards," and real estate development in Satiago, Chile, according to the report.

The pretend missionary also misdirected funds to his own North Carolina-based business, Shenkland LLC.

READ MORE: Christian nationalist and pro-Trump pastor insists 'believers' should 'be the ones writing the laws'

Christian Post's full report is available at this link.

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