Pastor, Presidential Advisor, Scammer To members of the Windsor Village Methodist
Church, Pastor Kirbyjohn Caldwell was their leader in faith.
For presidents Bush and Obama, he was their spiritual advisor.
Now, in 2021, Caldwell faces 72 months in prison for a $3.5 Million scam involving the
sale of worthless Chinese bonds.
How did he get here?
How did this "holy man" fall so far from grace?
Kirbyjohn Caldwell, MBA Caldwell grew up in Kashmir Gardens, a predominantly
African-American suburb of Houston, Texas.
His father was a tailor and a well-known one at that.
He made clothes for several touring musicians like Archi Bell and the Drells, The Temptations,
and James Brown.
Caldwell recalls a night when Tina Turner herself tucked him into bed as a young boy.
Caldwell is a well-educated man.
He received his B.A in Economics from Carleton College and his M.B.A from Wharton, UPENN's
Business school.
After spending some time as an investment banker and bonds salesman, Caldwell received
his Master's in Theology and two honorary Doctor of Law degrees.
He knew he was doing well for himself but felt like something was missing.
That something was ministry.
Caldwell would become a pillar in the Houston religious community starting in the early
1980s.
Windsor Village Before Caldwell, Windsor Village was a small
25 family Methodist church in a declining section of Houston, Texas.
Caldwell saw Windsor as his calling—a way to put his savvy business know-how to good
use.
He worked tirelessly with the surrounding area to build up the neighborhood.
With his guidance and powerful voice, new members helped fix up some of the housing.
At the time of his conviction, Windsor Village had grown to 16,000 thousand plus families
strong.
While church-goers were laying the literal foundation, Caldwell was playing the political
game.
Caldwell was able to lure important Texas political figures out to the course.
Caldwell dialed up the charm to get local celebrities on his side such as former Houston
Oilers Quarterback Warren Moon.
Caldwell and Windsor Village struck gold when they purchased an abandoned K-Mart strip mall
in the 90s.
They turned it into what Caldwell dubbed "The Power Center."
The Power Center was comparable to an entire campus for Windsor Village.
Not only did it act as a worship space, but it also featured classrooms for the local
Community College, a medical clinic, an AIDS outreach center, and a bank.
Until then, there wasn't a single bank in the neighborhood.
Caldwell changed that.
Chinese Bonds So how did Caldwell, a man that had done so
much for his community, stab them clean in the back?
Somehow, it all begins with the Chinese Communist Party.
In 1949, the CCP rose to power over the former People's Republic of China.
They deemed any bonds issued under the former government worthless.
However, that wouldn't be common knowledge to the average American in 2013.
Caldwell and his partner in crime, Gregory Smith, a financial planner and advisor, happened
to have a handful of these worthless bonds... or so they claimed.
How did Caldwell and Smith meet?
All that's known is the two met through a mutual acquaintance.
Neither wanted to comment any further on the nature of their relationship.
At one time, these Chinese bonds were worth something.
Let’s just run through a quick little hypothetical parallel example.
The situation is basically like this.
Imagine if Caldwell dealt in Pokemon cards.
And Caldwell was sitting on a pile of Charizard reprints.
So he goes around and claims that these reprints were as valuable as first-generation holographic
originals.
And let's say, for the sake of this example, that some Pokemon authority decided that those
Charizard reprints weren't worth anything.
But Caldwell was able to use the trust he had from his closest church members to convince
them to invest in these pokemon cards.
All because they saw him as an authority on pokemon.
SEC Declaration In the case of these Chinese Bonds, the Securities
and Exchange Commission was the Pokemon authority.
They considered the bonds as worthless collectibles.
Caldwell used his status to convince victims to invest in these bonds.
It was his position in the church that got many elderly folks to sign on without question.
It also helped that Caldwell was a former bonds salesman.
He had all the credentials for the victims to trust him based only on his word.
On top of his preacher status, Caldwell and his wife were co-owners of LTD, LLC, a Wyoming-based
company that received and held investor funds.
According to the official indictment, most of the victims came from Shreveport, Louisiana,
where Smith was based.
Caldwell’s Pitch The scam began in the Spring of 2013 when
Gregory Smith started pitching this bond investment to existing clients.
His pitch revolved around the fact that he owned the bonds or was in the process of obtaining
them.
He planned to sell them for massive profits.
However, Smith never disclosed the bonds' nature and encouraged clients to pull out
of other legitimate investments and give him and Caldwell their money.
He used buzzwords like "safe," "risk-free," and "guaranteed" to lure inventors in.
He even promised one investor a return of 15 times her original investment.
Caldwell was a wordsmith himself.
He told multiple investors that the bonds were backed by gold and silver when, in actuality,
they were only backed by the paper they were printed on.
They shook hands, and the victims wired money to Caldwell's bank account totaling Three
and a half Million dollars between 2013 and 2014.
The stolen money was then divided between Smith, Caldwell, and a few others.
Caldwell raked in $900,000 thousand dollars and used it to pay off loans, credit cards,
and mortgages.
Smith took his $1.08 Million cut and bought himself a pair of luxury SUVs.
He also put a down payment on some expensive vacation property.
But what did Caldwell and Smith think would happen?
Time passed, and the investors came knocking.
They wanted to know where their money was, but Smith and Caldwell were ready with the
excuses.
They just kept making false promises.
Caldwell even went as far as to use the alias "Turner Hines" when talking with investors.
Did they think the investors would just go away?
Stop asking about their money?
It didn't help that Smith was already in hot water for misappropriating investment funds
back in 2010.
He was barred from associating with FINRA members, and his investment business received
an F rating from Better Business Bureau.
Caldwell Defense Caldwell hopped on the defensive once accusations
were made and charges were brought upon him.
Caldwell stated, "These bonds are legitimate.
The process is legitimate.
I fully maintain that the accusation is baseless, and I hold evidence in my hand to the authenticity
and the legitimacy of the bonds."
He also claimed to have invested in the bonds himself as a means to help Windsor Village.
His attorney, Dan Cogdell, referred to Caldwell as a spiritual force in this city.
He claimed the charges were false, and if anybody should be presumed innocent, it's
Caldwell.
Church Reaction His church and many church leaders rallied
behind him.
During a Good Friday service, shortly after charges were filed, Rev. Terry K. Anderson
of Lilly Grove Missionary Baptist Church said, "On behalf of African-American churches ... we
stand with our own… he has our full support."
However, once Caldwell pled guilty in March of 2020, the UMC issued a statement, "We do
not tolerate crimes being committed by our clergy, and it is now clear that Kirbyjon
Caldwell has violated our standards of conduct."
Bush/Caldwell 2000 Before his fall from grace, Caldwell had made
a handful of powerful friends.
As he was growing Windsor Village in the late 90s and early 2000s, Caldwell received a phone
call from then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush.
However, the story of that phone call has gone down in Texas legend.
Caldwell thought he was being pranked when Gov. Bush called him and asked for his support
in his Presidential run.
It made sense, though.
In Caldwell's mind, why would a GOP Presidential candidate be seeking a political partnership
with an urban liberal minister?
The call was no prank.
Bush and Caldwell would go on to become good friends in faith and happen to share a handful
of core values.
No Child Left Behind was something that drew Caldwell to Bush's side.
The country got their first major introduction to Caldwell at Bush's 2001 inauguration, where
he gave the Benediction.
Their relationship was so strong that Caldwell even performed the ceremonies at Jenna Bush's
wedding.
Obama/Caldwell 2008
Caldwell's political ties didn’t end with President Bush.
When 2008 rolled around, Caldwell dedicated all his political attention toward Barack
Obama, a man he believed better represented his American values and Christian ethics.
Caldwell made multiple donations to the Obama campaign claiming his contributions came out
of his personal bank account.
Caldwell would become Obama's spiritual advisor and was dubbed "Obama's other Pastor" by Newsweek.
Caldwell’s Plea Caldwell finally lowered his fists in March
of 2020 when he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Smith pled guilty to the same charges in July of 2019.
Caldwell faced up to 72 months in prison and, at the time, had partially paid back all of
his victims.
His plea agreement required he pay back the remainder before sentencing.
He also faced a fine of $250,000 and three years supervised release once his prison term
was up.
The UMC stripped Caldwell of his titles and, although he pleaded guilty, Caldwell remained
on the Windsor Village staff as a lay preacher.
His wife was named the church's lead pastor.
In January of 2021, Kirbyjohn Caldwell was officially sentenced to six years in prison.
His lawyers fought for home confinement due to the 67-year-old man's elevated risk of
Covid-19 infection.
The judge deferred his prison start date to June of 2021.
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