An unholy alliance of church leaders fleeced their Queens flock out of more than $9.3 million in an investment scam that preyed on the elderly and disabled, authorities said yesterday.
The alleged sinister ministers at the Local Christian Assembly Church in Forest Hills doubled as the congregation’s financial advisers, funneling cash into their own investment company and spending much of it on jewelry, clothes, vacations and a $200,000 Bentley.
Four people — all holding “leadership positions” at the church — were arraigned on charges of securities fraud in Brooklyn federal court yesterday.
A fifth, Isaac Ovid, 28, an ordained minister, is in custody in Florida awaiting extradition.
The five spiritual leaders and another two church members were also hit with civil charges filed yesterday by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“My client feels horribly, more than anyone could ever know, about what has happened to the congregation that invested money,” said Randy Zelin, a lawyer for Stephen Cina, who is facing civil charges.
The indictment claims Ovid, Aaron Riddle, 34, Timothy Smith, 35, Robert Riddle, 59, and Jonathan Coleman, 40 — the son of pastor Joseph Coleman — collected the cash through their hedge-fund firm, Jadis Capital Inc., and spent or lost it between October 2004 and December 2005.
The SEC’s filing also names Cina and Cory Martin.
Coleman advised his partners-in-crime to target the Forest Hills flock, promising returns of up to 75 percent to mainly elderly people who could not afford the fund’s stated $500,000 minimum investment, the court documents said.
Since most of the alleged victims are members of the congregation, Assistant US Attorney James McGovern asked a federal judge to “admonish the defendants from making any statements from the pulpit or otherwise that could influence the testimony of the witnesses.”
Magistrate Judge Roanne Mann agreed, and ordered them not to talk to parishioners about the case.
Authorities estimate the suspects had more than 80 victims.
No one was available for comment at the church yesterday.