Snakes in a Church It's one of the Ten Commandments—Thou shalt
not steal.
One would think a trio of church-going men who identified themselves as pastors would
be sure to follow the rules they preach every week.
But, for the three men at the center of a massive $30 million Ponzi scheme, that particular
commandment must have slipped through the cracks.
How did these guys pose as pastors and run a giant scam preying on the medical community?
Father Jali, Frimpong, and Johnson For Dennis Jali, John Frimpong, and Arley
Johnson, scamming was easy.
They held key executive positions at a mysterious Maryland-based corporation that was ultimately
responsible for swindling millions of dollars from unsuspecting investors.
To make matters worse, many of the people scammed were members of the medical community.
While the events of their scheme happened long before Covid, they still targeted the
people needed the most during the pandemic.
These investors believed that they were contributing to charitable funds and efforts.
Before they knew it, their money had vanished into an elaborate ruse designed to take advantage
of people's generosity.
The 1st Million To successfully operate such a large-scale
scam and avoid detection, Jali, Frimpong, and Johnson ran three separate companies,
all of which were lying about the true nature of their work.
While the bulk of their activities took place in Maryland, Jali also ran satellite offices
in Florida.
These fake LLCs were First Million Dollars, Smart Partners, and Access2Assets.
They told people they would take sums of cash and invest them into foreign currency and
cryptocurrency markets, promising that the investments they make into these new, modern
currencies would result in big net returns for all involved.
They assured investors that they would see between 6%-35% return on their initial investment
every single month, even in the face of an unpredictable stock market.
While bigger fish might have seen a scam right away, the unholy trio got plenty of people
to take the bait.
The majority of their investments came from one area of study in particular—the medical
field.
An estimated 1,200 people fell victim to the scam.
Many of them were African immigrants in the medical community, and they weren't just limited
to Maryland.
Victims from Indiana, Texas, New York, Georgia, and Florida have all come forward, saying
they were robbed by Jali, Frimpong, and Johnson.
There were others caught in the crossfire as well.
Anyone that Jali, Frimpong, and Johnson believed had a heart for giving, and an eye for foreign
and cryptocurrencies could fall prey to the predatory Ponzi setup.
The plan went off without a hitch for a while and proved highly profitable for Jali, Frimpong,
and Johnson.
Two years of careful money laundering on the part of our three schemers yielded them a
whopping $28 million.
Slither and Scam How exactly did these professional liars get
people to buy into their blatant scheme?
Their operation was complex and nefarious.
They victimized generous individuals who believed they were dealing with religious men of God.
In reality, their money was being swallowed up by something far more devilish.
Jali, Frimpong, and Johnson traveled far and wide to recruit more investors, attending
church services and fancy religious events all across Maryland.
They posed as well-to-do pastors in their effort to gain their targets' trust.
They boasted about their love for God and their tremendous desire to do His good work
throughout the world.
Of course, that was nothing but smoke and mirrors.
They say that virtue is its own reward, but it clearly wasn't enough for the men at the
center of this story.
The only prize they had their eyes on was cold hard cash.
The three Ponzi schemers didn't just use their phony faith to persuade people to hand over
their hard-earned money.
They used their diverse backgrounds to tug at the heartstrings of anyone who could relate
to their journey as immigrants in America.
Jali is a South African native who presented himself to investors as a self-made millionaire.
He told his rousing success story to the migrant community who wanted to use his achievements
to help others reach similar heights in their lives.
John Frimpong was from Ghana, and though he wasn't a US citizen, he still made a decent
living for himself.
He wanted to aid other immigrants and non-citizens to follow in his footsteps.
Remember, these were the personas they portrayed to the outside world.
They wanted to be seen as sympathetic figures, people who should be admired and trusted—trusted
with people's money, that is.
According to First Million's deceitful executives, the company was operating under the pretense
that their work was in service of God's mission.
They claimed that their main objective, as a business, was to give church-going members
of the First Million family the opportunity to "achieve personal wealth and financial
freedom" in the same way that Jali, Frimpong, and Johnson were able to.
It all sounded like it was on the up and up, and apparently, that was enough for the gullible
believers dumping millions of dollars into this so-called investment opportunity.
"Investment" Basics Jali, Frimpong, and Johnson made it clear
to prospective investors that they knew exactly what they were doing.
They assured investors that the money would be safe, secure, and multiplying in the foreign
and cryptocurrency markets.
They promised their investors that their money would be safe from loss.
Their cash would sit in an account separate from the business, meaning that any potential
collapse by First Million would not affect their investments.
This allowed investors to breathe easy about the well-being of their precious dollars.
Investors were also told that First Million was being operated by seasoned veterans of
the Wall Street game—people trained and licensed in professional investing.
Jali and Frimpong were highlighted specifically as talented investors who knew what they were
doing.
They could be trusted with the huge sums of cash being moved around.
Jali doubled down on his self-proclaimed investment know-how.
He told a few investors that he'd achieved positive returns of 1700%.
He also posted a promotional video claiming to have made returns of 400% in just six weeks
of Forex trading.
Jali claimed to be so successful that his wife doesn't have to work a day in her life.
You can still watch a YouTube video posted by Access2Assets where Jali rambles on and
on for two and half minutes about how he's been Forex trading his entire life.
He challenges doubters to live-trade with him and claims to have made another 400% profit
in—get this—seven minutes!
He also claims to do missionary work with people from Jamaica, Israel, and South Africa.
That is, however, the only video posted by Access2Assets, a channel that's been around
since July of 2018 with a whopping nine subscribers.
Whether or not it was run by Jali himself, we'll never know.
But, the video was posted at the peak of their scam.
The claims made by our trio were enough to convince their victims to fork over their
cash.
It seemed like a sure bet.
The money was safe, and there was no way to lose.
Investors could only break even.
But, if you know anything about stocks and trading, there's no such thing as a can't-lose
situation.
It's gambling.
First Million was a profitable company headed by people with expert trading knowledge.
Their money was in good hands.
They had nothing to worry about.
Right?
Wrong.
The Ponzi Pyramid The money that First Million collected was
not being invested as promised.
Instead, it was tossed into a Ponzi scheme setup that kept investors paid appropriately
and the owners of First Million very rich.
For those unaware of the inner workings of a classic Ponzi scheme, basically, it entails
using new investment money to pay back what is owed to older investors, thus maintaining
the illusion that their dollars are being used in the agreed-upon fashion.
In reality, the masterminds behind the scheme, Jali, Frimpong, and Johnson, keep the money
flowing in the investment cycle and pocket the rest for themselves.
If planned and executed properly, it can go on for a long time.
The folks at First Million managed to keep it running for a couple of years before anyone
caught on to their misdeeds.
The scam maintained the interest of new investors due to its pyramid-like structure as well.
For every additional investor that a current investor could convince to join, they were
awarded a 0.5% bonus on top of their usual monthly return.
It was a Ponzi pyramid if you will.
Current investors were heavily relied upon to help bring in new recruits to the party.
First Million hired them on as "agents" tasked with organizing promotional events to attract
the attention of potential investors.
Jali, a bonafide millionaire at this point, also used the glitz and glam of his extravagant
lifestyle to entice people into joining the fray.
When he rolled up to a snazzy event at a five-star hotel in one of his luxury cars or a private
jet, people immediately wanted to buy whatever he was selling.
FBI Feelings In May of 2019, it all came crashing down.
Federal investigators had begun looking into First Million's business dealings, having
identified Ponzi-scheme-like activity in the Maryland-based company.
Once there were eyes watching, the jig was up.
The three men at the center of the scheme hadn't been covering their tracks very well.
Inconsistencies littered the paper trail, and they allowed investigators to uncover
what was going on.
Jali, Frimpong, and Johnson had been moving money around between different accounts, including
their personal ones, without fabricating anything to cloud their illegal actions or make it
seem like they ran a legit trading company.
As far as scammers go, they were pretty lazy, and it cost them.
Their most blatant mistake was not registering with the CFTC, which is the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission.
In a nutshell, not registering with the CFTC is like trying to sell a new drug without
it getting approved by the FDA.
They're going to find out, especially when there are millions of dollars involved.
Jali fled the country once he caught wind that the FBI was on their tail, but he didn't
last long.
He was eventually arrested in South Africa, while Frimpong was arrested in his Maryland
home in August of 2020.
Johnson gave himself up to the authorities shortly after, and the three men face charges
of securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.
They all face upwards of 20 years in federal prison for their crimes.
Aftermath Their widespread scam touched the lives (and
pockets) of roughly 1200 people nationwide.
A significant portion of the victims were African immigrants working in the medical
field, but the Ponzi trio targeted anyone and everyone.
Several nurses, an engineer, an accountant, and a car dealership manager were among those
affected in the Maryland area.
The indictments handed down by a federal grand jury detailed the massive scale of the $28
million scam, and the FBI is still searching for additional victims of First Million's
criminal activities.
The self-proclaimed "pastors" behind this gigantic fraud obviously need to brush up
on the basics of living the way God says to in the Bible, a book they claimed to know
so much about.
Luckily, they'll have plenty of free time to do so in their prison cells.
Click to watch one of these next videos!