Navy Federal Members 'Threatened With Curses From God' in Pastor's Alleged Scheme

When members of a Missouri church questioned their pastor about the $1 million in loan funds deposited into their Navy Federal Credit Union accounts and where the money was going, he allegedly threatened them with curses from God and scolded them for questioning a man of God.

That minister, Kenneth C. Sparks III, is expected to be arraigned next week in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, on charges that include one felony count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, eight felony counts of wire fraud and two felony counts of aggravated identity theft.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office in St. Louis, Sparks was a visiting minister at Faith Walk Ministry, a church in Paris, Mo., in 2020 and 2021. Sparks and four other defendants named in an indictment unlawfully obtained more than $1.2 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program proceeds through fraudulent loan applications submitted at two banks and two non-bank direct lenders in the names of church members.

As part of the fraud scheme, church members were allegedly encouraged to open bank accounts at Navy Federal where the PPP loan funds were later deposited at the direction of Sparks and other defendants.

To have fraudulent PPP loans taken out in the names of his church members, Sparks and his co-conspirators allegedly obtained church members’ personal and financial information by telling them various falsehoods. For example, Sparks often told church members that they needed to provide their information so that his co-conspirators could fix their credit scores, according to court documents. On other occasions, he allegedly told church members that his co-conspirators needed their information to secure funding for the Faith Walk Ministry.

Sparks directed one of his co-conspirators to create email addresses in the names of Faith Walk Ministry church members so that those email addresses could be used to apply for the fraudulent loans without alerting church members to the full scope of the scheme, according to reports.

However, after Faith Walk Ministry church members received the alleged fraudulent PPP loan proceeds in their Navy Federal accounts, the credit union froze several of the church members’ accounts based on suspected fraud.

To reopen the church members’ Navy Federal accounts, Sparks and another defendant allegedly coached the church members on the lies that they should tell Navy Federal employees.

According to the indictment, Sparks and other defendants developed a “script” for what church members should say when speaking with Navy Federal employees to reopen their accounts.

The script worked because Navy Federal lifted the freeze status on their accounts. Sparks then directed church members where to send the loan funds, according to the indictment.

But some church members grew suspicious and began asking questions about where the money deposited into their Navy Federal accounts was going.

“When those same questions were posed by church members to Defendant Sparks, he would threaten church members with ‘curses from God,’” according to the indictment. “Defendant Sparks also regularly scolded church members who inquired about his fraudulent scheme for questioning a ‘man of God.’”

The indictment did not say how many Navy Federal accounts were opened.

Sparks reaped hundreds of thousands of dollars from the scheme, the indictment alleged, and used the money for luxury vehicles, clothing and other merchandise.

Other defendants named in the indictment were Harold G. Long, the lead minister and CEO of the church, Mya M. McClain, an administrative assistant at the church, and Javonte D. Long, a church member. Also named in the indictment was Jeffrey C. Oboite of Maryland, who operated businesses called Angel’s Management Group LLC, Emerald Score LLC and O&S Construction LLC.

Oboite and McClain were indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and seven counts of wire fraud. Harold Long faces one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of wire fraud. Javonte Long was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud, according to the indictment.

Federal prosecutors alleged Oboite taught Sparks and McClain how to submit fraudulent applications to obtain PPP loans. Sparks and Oboite also told McClain and Harold Long to submit fraudulent PPP loan applications for businesses purportedly owned by Long, according to the indictment.

In addition, Oboite and Sparks both submitted fraudulent loan applications at victim banks in their own names, and received at least $200,000, the indictment alleged. Included among those fraudulently obtained loans was $147,900 from the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, which was another Small Business Administration program intended to help struggling business owners during the pandemic.

Harold Long pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts. McClain pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and seven counts of wire fraud. Javonte Long pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud. Oboite has not been arraigned on his charges yet, according to court filings.

The victim financial institutions were TAB Bank and Cross River Bank, according to the indictment. Also victimized by this fraud were two non-bank direct lenders, Fountainhead SBF, LLC and Benworth Capital Partners.