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iilluminaughtii

The Church Ponzi Scheme That Got Caught: Greater Ministries International | Multi Level Mondays

iilluminaughtii

Blair Zoń

Education, Business, Society & Culture, Documentary

4.4 • 961 Ratings

🗓️ 16 March 2021

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Go to http://HelloFresh.com/12MLM and use code 12MLM for 12 free meals, including free shipping Welcome to Multi Level Mondays, a weekly series all about multi level marketing, pyramid schemes, and ponzi schemes. Connect With Me: https://linktr.ee/iilluminaughtii This episode was edited and mixed by: G. Thomas Craig Intro Song Credits: MLM: Flow Like Chopin (Bed Version)- Will Van De Crommert CC: Last to Fall- Will Van De Crommert Outro Song Credits: MLM: King Cobra- Monk CC: Trauma- Will Van De Crommert Ad Music Credits: Tango de Manzana by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4460-tango-de-manzana License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Backbay Lounge by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3408-backbay-lounge License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

And the Hello and welcome back to multi-level Mondays, a weekly series all about multi-level marketing, pyramid schemes and

0:25.0

Ponzi schemes.

0:26.6

Today we're going to be talking about Greater Ministries International.

0:31.3

What I found most surprising about this is it was kind of a church and a ponzi scheme all wrapped into one.

0:36.0

That's why I was sort of surprised that my cursory sources didn't really pull up much and even their Wikipedia page was only a couple paragraphs long.

0:44.7

But after taking some time to really dig into this topic, I have a complete story at least

0:49.6

from what I found about what happened at Greater Ministries International or the Church Ponzi

0:55.3

scheme, I guess.

0:56.3

So let's get started. So Greater Ministries International or GMI was founded in 1993 by Gerald Payne of Tampa, Florida.

1:14.3

He wasn't alone, but we're going to begin with his story

1:17.2

as he's pretty widely regarded

1:19.1

as the one that started all of this.

1:21.5

According to a mini documentary produced by CNBC about this. According to a mini documentary produced by

1:23.4

CNBC about this scandal, Payne was a blue collar guy, a painter who even ran a

1:28.8

warehouse at one point. The Anti-Defamation League elaborates and says,

1:33.6

GMI was the brainchild of Payne, a Florida contractor who found religion in the

1:38.1

1980s and became a minister.

1:40.8

But Payne, who spent some time in prison in 1979 for lying to a grand jury, discovered that

1:46.6

the material rewards of preaching did not match the spiritual uplift. In other words,

1:51.5

being a preacher didn't earn him enough money.

1:54.7

With his typical energy he attempted to remedy the imbalance.

1:58.4

With James Marr formally on probation for running a pyramid scheme, he incorporated a financial planning

...

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