Jermaine Grant, the leader of the black nationalist Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ (ICGJC), was arrested Wednesday on charges of fraud and tax evasion involving $5 million. According to a federal indictment, Grant and his conspirator bankrolled a posh lifestyle for Grant’s family, including luxury items, designer clothing, high-end vehicles, private schools, and trips to Disneyland.
Police arrested Grant, 43, and ICGJC Treasurer Lincoln Warrington, 48, for a 9-year fraud and tax evasion scheme in which they allegedly “fraudulently diverted [millions in church funds] to their sham entertainment company and to one of the defendants for his personal use,” U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced Wednesday.
Grant and Warrington allegedly created Black Icon Entertainment (BIE) in order to present Grant as an entertainment industry mogul with wealth stemming from his industry success. In fact, BIE conducted virtually no legitimate business and is almost exclusively funded by ICGJC funds, according to the indictment.
From January 2007 to April 2016, Grant and Warrington funneled approximately $2.4 million in church funds into BIE, which Grant and Warrington concealed on federal income tax returns for Grant and the company.
Grant also allegedly siphoned over $2.9 million in income from the ICGJC through multiple personal expenditures, which Grant and Warrington failed to report as income on Grant’s federal income tax returns. Grant used an ICGJC debit card to purchase “home furnishings, luxury items, designer clothing, real estate, trips to Disneyland and other resorts for his family, multiple high-end vehicles, and private school for some of his children, who were chauffeured in a Mercedes Benz paid for with ICGJC funds.”
In total, Grant and Warrington allegedly failed to report $5,342,920 in income derived from ICGJC between 2007 and 2015, resulting in a tax loss to the United States of $1,982,470.
Both men have been charged with one count of conspiring to defraud the United States. Grant has also been charged with five counts of personal income tax evasion. Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The far-Left Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has marked the ICGJC a black nationalist “hate group” for its black nationalist views. While the SPLC is infamous for marking mainstream Christian organizations “hate groups” on rather specious grounds, their reporting of racial animus is usually reliable.
Part of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, the ICGJC preaches that black people are the descendants of ancient Israelites.
Grant has called himself “Chief High Priest Tazadaqyah,” the “Holy Spirit,” and “The Comforter.” These last two names refer to the Third Person of the Trinity according to Christian doctrine, so Grant has blasphemously referred to himself as God. He has preached that a black Jesus will return to earth to enslave and kill white people. In 2013, Grant sued a Connecticut toy maker for $165,000 for producing an action figure with skin that was insufficiently black.
While some black people can trace their DNA back to Israel, there is no evidence that the ancient Israelites were predominantly black, nor that Jesus Himself was black. Christian churches across the world have portrayed Jesus in many different racial views, but He was a Middle Eastern Jew, not white, black, or Chinese.
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