Back in 2017, Todd Coontz, a Christian preacher who offered God-inspired financial advice through Rock Wealth International Ministries was charged with tax fraud after a decade of allegedly claiming personal expenses for business use.
This was a guy who wrote off a $1.5 million condo as a business expense… even though it was his family’s property. He also said the several luxury cars he owned were for his ministry. And so was his boat. And all those clothes. And the jewelry. And the $140,000 he spent on meals and entertainment.
He was eventually charged with “three counts of failure to pay taxes and four counts of aiding and assisting in the filing of false tax returns.”
In 2019, he was found guilty on all seven charges but spent only one day in jail before he was released pending an appeal. And when he lost that appeal, he appealed again, all the way to the Supreme Court. This past February, the Supreme Court threw out his challenge. It was finally over. Coontz was officially a guilty man with no more legal outs at his disposal.
On March 9, the paperwork was completed and he began a five-year sentence (with some time already served) at Pensacola Federal Prison Camp (Pensacola FPC), a minimum security prison in Florida. He won’t be out until June of 2025.
And yet none of that has stopped him from trying to scam Christians into giving him cash.
According to Sarah Einselen at The Roys Report, Coontz has been sending fundraising emails “at least every other day” with no indication that he’s locked up for tax fraud.
In the emails, Coontz urges supporters to “sow your seed” through donations to his ministry. He asks for donations of $100, $500, and even a $1,000 “millionaires receivers seed” — saying that “God Is Birthing Millionaires” and those donors can “Expect 3 Supernatural Harvests!”
Besides the sheer audacity of scamming people while in prison for a scam, it’s also illegal. The prison’s own rules say “inmates may not operate or direct businesses while incarcerated.” And it’s not like Coontz is running a ministry at this point. But he is still listed as the head of Rock Wealth and his own church — which means even if some other staffer sent out those emails, he’s still technically running the show.
Prison hasn’t taught him anything. But whether he’ll be punished for his latest grift is an open question.
(Screenshot via YouTube. Large portions of this article were posted earlier)
It’s Moving Day for the Friendly ..."
It’s Moving Day for the Friendly ..."
It’s Moving Day for the Friendly ..."
It’s Moving Day for the Friendly ..."