Fugitive Ex-Minister Aubrey Lee Price, Who Faked Death After Losing Millions, Had Warned Against Chasing Wealth and Defying God
Aubrey Lee Price, 47, the ex-minister of the gospel and former banker who was nabbed on Tuesday, after allegedly defrauding investors of millions then faking his death and spending more than a year on the lam, had warned against chasing wealth and defying God.
The FBI, which identified Price as an investment banker and former minister, announced his capture in a recent notice.
Price, according to a report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, had written a 20-plus page suicidal confession last summer in which he quoted scripture and warned against financial greed before supposedly going off to kill himself.
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"I created false financial statements and defrauded investors, regulators, other work associates and bank employees," said the letter, titled "Confidential Confession For Regulators" with his name at the end.
The Journal-Constitution's report noted, "The letter quotes scripture warnings about the pitfalls of pursuing wealth and defying God, and rails against bankers, regulators and the pressure cooker industry of money management."
A complaint filed in federal court on July 2, 2012, explained that Price and others "raised approximately $40 million from approximately 115 investors," mainly from Georgia and Florida, starting in 2009. He then went on to commit fraud at the expense of his investors.
"The complaint alleges that, instead of investing the money as promised, Price fraudulently wired the bank's funds to accounts that he personally controlled at other financial institutions and provided bank management with altered documents to make it appear as if he had invested the bank's money in (U.S.) Treasury securities," according to the U.S. attorney's office for eastern New York.
Price, according to the complaint, concealed the embezzlement by lying that some $17 million had been deposited in the name of Montgomery Bank & Trust in Ailey, Ga., at a New York financial services firm.
Price, however, went missing several weeks before the charges became public. On Saturday, Officer Kay Jones of the Glynn County, Ga., Sheriff's Office confirmed with CNN that Price was being held for federal marshals after being booked on New Year's Eve.
