An Ohio GOP Star, A Secretive Church, A Securities Scam

You’re going to need a scorecard to follow this one – but it’s well worth keeping score, as another GOP star-wannabe looks to be neck-deep in big-time money fraud.

Ohio state representative Peter Beck (R-54) was just indicted on 53 counts. He already is facing 16 felony counts from an indictment last July.

According to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, the charges stem from an investigation into software company Christopher Technologies, LLC. In January 2013 a lawsuit was filed that alleges Beck, as well as others, had bilked investors out of $1.2 million.

The charges include such things as theft, money laundering, telecommunications fraud and perjury.

Along with Beck, a Cincinnati based church, Ark by the River, was indicted on 9 felony counts. The church, which has been described as “secretive,” is located just east of downtown Cincinnati.

Beck was serving as the financial officer for Ark by the River. … Investigations have also taken place into the church’s tax-exempt status.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Beck…

… is under pressure to resign his General Assembly seat. … “Mr. Beck steadfastly maintains his innocence,” said Ralph Kohnen and Chad Ziepfel, attorneys with Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, in a statement. “Mr. Beck looks forward to the trial starting on April 7, and is confident that once the facts are presented in a court of law, he will be found not guilty of all charges.”

and has a few more details on the church:

Ark by the River Fellowship Ministry, a secretive Linwood church investigated by The Enquirer in September, also received much of the money from the fraud, according to the indictment issued Thursday. So the church – a “cult,” according to the felony indictment – and Pastor Janet Combs, who is [the late Cincinnati money manager Thomas M.] Lysaght’s widow, also face felony charges for corruption, money laundering and receiving stolen property.

By: dave-dr-gonzo

David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.

* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.