Michigan Pastor Pleads Guilty to Stealing From Elderly Member
Raymond Vliet faces up to 10 years in prison and restitution payment for his actions against a 91-year-old ELGA CU member.
A Michigan pastor, who allegedly stole up to $50,000 from a 91-year-old credit union member, has agreed to plead guilty and pay restitution.
John Potbury, deputy chief assistant prosecutor for the Genesee County Prosecutor’s office in Flint, Mich., said Raymond M. Vliet Jr., 55, has pleaded guilty to one felony count of attempted embezzlement of a vulnerable adult.
The pastor of the Old Beth-el General Baptist Church in Flushing, Mich., is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 20. He faces up to 10 years in state prison, Potbury said.
Vliet took the elderly man, a church member who reportedly has dementia, to the Flushing branch of the $721 million ELGA Credit Union to apply for a loan to buy a pontoon.
Loan Officer Jessica Cameron denied the loan request even after she was shown a power of attorney document for the elderly member that Vliet presented during loan application process. She became suspicious when she noticed Vliet’s file folder contained other power of attorney documents for other members of the same church.
Cameron informed Flushing Branch Manager Sarah Thompson about the suspicious incident, who called police.
A police investigation revealed that on the same day Vliet failed to secure a loan from ELGA, he went to another credit union in Flint and managed to obtain a loan to buy the pontoon. Moreover, Vliet allegedly returned later to that same credit union for a car loan that was approved. Police declined to identify the credit union.
Because Vliet’s credit rating was so poor, he used the member’s power of attorney document to get the loans approved, according to police.
The police investigation also found that the pastor convinced the victim’s wife before she died to sign over their modular home into the name of the church.
“She did that because she was so taken in by the pastor that he was doing God’s work,” Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell said.
Vliet allegedly embezzled up to $50,000 from the credit union member, which also included cashing in on a $3,000 life insurance policy on the victim and a $10,000 life insurance policy on the deceased wife. The pastor reportedly used some of the life insurance money to pay for casino trips.