Jim Staley Indicted for Fraud
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2014/06/25/wentzville-man-indicted-on-fraud-charges/
See “Update” at bottom. Perhaps Staley has been indicted but not arrested. My original blog post title included the verb “arrested,” but I have modified it based on this clarification.
Jim Staley of Passion Truth Ministries was the subject of my “Wall of Weird #2″ which you can read here. I said nothing at all about legal issues Jim was facing. I do not really know much more than what you can read in online news sources. I have no idea whether Jim is guilty or not.
He is accused of selling financial services of a fraudulent nature knowingly to eleven investors who spent $3.4 million. His commissions total $507,000 according to the article. Jim has stated that he unknowingly broke the law, selling a security that he says was approved by the state of Missourri. However, the news article states that “Staley was well aware that if B & B was unable to secure a buyer for the bundled insurance policies that his clients would lose all their monies invested in the Premium Financing product sold by B & B.”
I have been a vocal opponent of Jim Staley’s ideas, of the way he promises people a better identity with God if they start living Torah. There are a thousand variations of the “snake oil” message (“get your snake oil, the only good kind, right here, for a lifetime of easy installments of 10% of your gross income”).
There is no snake oil. Instead there is God’s way of love and peace which is available to every person and which is expressed on earth in many forms, most potently in my opinion, through a mature Judaism or Christianity. No clergy person has the answer. All clergy who are sincere in love and who search out God’s ways have some of the heavenly oil of wisdom to dispense, and may the number of rabbis and pastors and priests who truly do God’s work expand. Would that every neighborhood had a wise religious leader and community nearby.
For Jim Staley, though I don’t know you, I simply pray for strength for you in whatever you must face. If you are acquitted, I will certainly report it and be happy for you.
For the members of Staley’s congregation, I pray for you to realize there is a big world of Judaism and Christianity that has been helping people discover God for thousands of years. Passion for Truth, I am sure, tapped into some good things. But your spiritual leader’s teachings have also been a distortion, setting your minds on lesser goals and failing to inspire you with the kingdom of heaven. I pray you all get out and find the bigger picture of faith in a Judeo-Christian context.
UPDATE: Jim Staley has posted on his Facebook page for Passion for Truth that he has not been arrested. He says the state of Missourri cleared him of charged and that “the enemy” (the devil, I guess) is using the Federal Government to bring up old charges again. Here is a link to his statement:
https://www.facebook.com/passionfortruth/posts/10152536534029204
Hi Derek,
Just a note about the current charges that Jim Staley faces:
It’s important to note that these Federal charges are not a re-hash of the State charges brought against Staley in which a large financial judgement and fines have already been levied.
These new charges are Federal Felony wire fraud charges – related to, but a different crime than what the State of Missouri dealt with.
Jim Staley will likely try to spin this to make folks believe that the Feds are trying to re-try him on issues already settled (based on his statement on the PFT FB page), and that is NOT the case. That financial fraud case was on the state level, this is federal wire fraud – and these are CRIMINAL charges, not regulation/licensing violations. BIG difference.
I felt that was an important point to clarify.
Grace and peace to you,
-JGIG
Thank you, JGIG. I am a serious non-expert on legal terms. I appreciate your clarification of the difference in the charges and the evidence you provide that even now, in his statement, Jim is being deceptive. As some have noted on my Facebook profile where I comment on this as well: when a religious leader gets in trouble and pulls the Satan-as-attacking-me-via-the-authorities card, this is an ugly religious version of the political cover up. Jim is not reacting to this crisis in his life, at least not publicly, in ways that are above board.
Be not quick to judge says God doesn’t seem to apply here. It seems AGIG needs to change her name because she is definitely not growing in grace. The Feds are rehashing the same exact thing that the state accused me of. I was also accused of wire fraud at first with mo as well. They never pursued it because they believed the product was a real product after their investigation.
The reason why there is such thing as wire fraud is because the Feds believe that the product itself was fraudulent therefore the paycheck that the company I worked for wired me becomes wire fraud. Same exact case. Same investigation. Different people.
Even our messiah loved his enemies and told us to do the same. AGIG hates the Hebrew roots movement and the message of Torah and has dedicated most of the last five years trying to tear it down. Attacking theology in love is one thing. Sarcastically attacking the character of someone that you don’t know and never met, that is reserved for politicians and Satan himself. Not for Christians that carry the banner and character of the loving God.
I would remind everyone to reread the story of Ham when he felt the need to expose his fathers sin. Publicly exposing a brothers sin or alleged sin without first going to him to get the full story not only breaks scripture at the highest level, it exposes the evil intent of your own heart and makes you no more than a secular reporter existing only on the negativity of others. PFT can promise everyone that I something came up “newsworthy” and you had legal issues or were accused of a crime that you didn’t commit, I and my staff would not be trying to expose you regardless of the outcome. We would tell everyone to pray for you and we would believe the best and let God be your judge. We may not like each other but we are all in the same submarine. Throwing grenades is not a good idea and puts the credibility of the whole ship at stake…which is why God made it clear to cover one another in love and follow the biblical protocol to a tee. May God have mercy on us all for all of our past sins.
One more thing regarding his statement on the PFT FB page:
Jim Staley claims that he was not arrested, yet anyone can go to https://ecf.moed.uscourts.gov/documents/PressBox06242014.html, scroll down about half-way, and three entries related to his arrest, bail, and conditional release:
4:14-cr-00153-ERW-TCM USA v Staley Arrest
Docket Text: Arrest of defendant James Staley date of arrest: 6/24/14 (MCB)
4:14-cr-00153-ERW-TCM USA v Staley Bond Execution Document: 6
Docket Text: Minute Entry for proceedings held before Magistrate Judge Thomas C. Mummert, III:Initial Appearance and Bond Execution as to James Staley held on 6/24/2014. Bond executed in the amount of: own recognizance. Defendant given copy of: Indictment. Defendant to retain: Marc Johnson. Pretrial Services bail report received on: 6/24/14. Pretrial Services Officer: Tony Byrd.( Arraignment set for 6/27/2014 10:30 AM in Courtroom 13N before Magistrate Judge Thomas C. Mummert III.) (FTR Gold Operator initials:C. Long.) (FTR Gold: Yes.) (proceedings started: 12:01.) (proceedings ended: 12:08.) (Defendant Location: bond.) (MCB)
4:14-cr-00153-ERW-TCM USA v Staley Order Setting Conditions of Release Document: 7
Docket Text: ORDER Setting Conditions of Release by Defendant James Staley. as to James Staley (1) own recognizance. Signed by Magistrate Judge Thomas C. Mummert, III on June 24, 2014. (MCB)
Clearly James Staley was arrested and clearly he’s lied on the Passion for TRUTH page in saying that he was not arrested: “I would like everyone to know that I have not been arrested and I am not in jail as all the rumors seem to state.” – Jim Staley (‘Pastor Jim’)
Mr. Staley – don’t you want the truth uncovered? If you are innocent, you should fear nothing from your actions being scrutinized. It’s interesting that you pick the Noah/Ham incident to identify with in this ordeal. Following that to its logical conclusion, it would seem you actually did do this thing (like Noah actually did get drunk and uncover himself – it wasn’t a false charge), and now you want people to cover it up for you because it’s embarrassing (like Ham should have done to protect his father’s dignity).
If you did not do this thing, why not exhort your followers to rather trust in the G-d of truth to bring truth to light, especially if you have nothing to hide? It seems odd to onlookers that you try to convince people of your innocence by encouraging them to cover up your “alleged” sin.
I pray you come out of this whole and healed, and that truth comes out into the open, for the sake of everyone involved.
So Jim, why did you say on FB you haven’t been arrested? The court record seems to say otherwise. Is lying approoriate conduct for any follower of yeshua, let alone a leader?
And another thing, Jim,. Where has Derek or JGIG judged you? All they’ve done is report what’s happened. That’s not judging.
Jim (Staley, I deduce, as he speaks in the first person in regard to this matter) writes, “Be not quick to judge says God doesn’t seem to apply here. It seems AGIG needs to change her name because she is definitely not growing in grace.”
“AGIG”? Who is this “AGIG” you speak of?
And grace does not roll over while wolves fleece the flocks. Now that we have that out of the way . . .
Jim Staley also wrote, “The Feds are rehashing the same exact thing that the state accused me of. I was also accused of wire fraud at first with mo as well. They never pursued it because they believed the product was a real product after their investigation.”
No, that’s not accurate. Anyone can go to these links to see what the State of Missouri was investigating you for and what their conclusions were:
http://www.sos.mo.gov/news.asp?id=802
http://www.sos.mo.gov/securities/orders/ap-09-14.asp
http://www.sos.mo.gov/securities/orders/AP-09-14a.asp
I re-read the documents and there is no mention of wire fraud as an issue. And if it were, and you were either exonerated or paid the penalty for the violation, double jeopardy would kick in, would it not, and a Grand Jury would never have brought back an indictment for Federal Felony Wire Fraud, right? Yet they did, and here you are.
Jim Staley wrote, “The reason why there is such thing as wire fraud is because the Feds believe that the product itself was fraudulent therefore the paycheck that the company I worked for wired me becomes wire fraud. Same exact case. Same investigation. Different people.”
As a financial advisor, part of your job was to know what products are legal in your state, yes? Also part of your job was for you to hold the proper licensing, registration, and appointments for the products you offered your clients, yes? You’re trying to make it look like the governing authorities for the industry in which you worked ‘believed’ certain things about the product you offered your clients, and you imply that they were in error. In fact, they know exactly what the product was that you were offering your clients and knew that it was not legal to sell in the State of Missouri. Not only that, but it was a product which required the agent (you) to be securities licensed, a license which you had not taken the time and study to acquire. This tells us one of two things about you:
1) you were operating in either willful ignorance or incompetence as a financial advisor (see http://www.sos.mo.gov/securities/pubs/complying_laws.asp to see that the State of Missouri does not ever find ignorance of financial laws acceptable), or
2) you were operating outside of the financial laws and regulations of your state and you knew it but did it anyway to make a buck. Actually a whole lotta bucks – $570,000.
You’re asserting that the issue with the MOSOS and the Feds is the same, yet none of the MOSOS docs support your assertion.
Jim Staley wrote, “Even our messiah loved his enemies and told us to do the same. AGIG hates the Hebrew roots movement and the message of Torah and has dedicated most of the last five years trying to tear it down.”
Again, who is this “AGIG” you speak of? What do you say the ‘A’ stands for. It’s not a typo (repeated 3 times and the ‘A’ and the ‘J’ are not next to each other on the keyboard), so is there a point you’re trying to make? I’ve been called ‘JPIG’, ‘JGAG’, and a few other clearly derogatory versions of JGIG, but your rendition is a mystery. Please enlighten us.
Anyway, do I disagree with the Hebrew Roots Movement? Yep. Do I hate the people in it? Nope. If I did, I’d simply turn my back and walk the other way. What is the message of Torah? To point us to Christ. To point us to the Gospel of Grace and the Free Gifts of Forgiveness, Righteousness, and New Life in Christ. That is what I preach, and against that standard all belief systems stand or fall.
Jim Staley wrote, “Attacking theology in love is one thing. Sarcastically attacking the character of someone that you don’t know and never met, that is reserved for politicians and Satan himself. Not for Christians that carry the banner and character of the loving God.”
So is no one permitted to examine your actions? Your words? We’re not permitted to point out that you say you weren’t arrested when publicly available documents clearly show that you were? That’s not sarcasm, that’s discernment. And could it be said of you that you’re sarcastically attacking my character by likening me to ‘politicians and Satan himself’?
As for your example of Ham, Kari, in an above comment does an excellent job of responding to that.
The only thing I’ll add is the following: You wrote, “I would remind everyone to reread the story of Ham . . . ”
No, everyone needs to re-read the story of Jim Staley, because you are the one whose actions are being examined. And the more we see and hear from you, the less credible you become.
A commenter on my Facebook profile pointed out a possibility to me in which Jim would not be lying. It is possible (I do not know court terminology) that reporting to a court on your own recognizance on criminal charges is called an arrest. Jim may not be aware the court considers that an arrest. Perhaps what he meant by “not arrested” is that officers did not apprehend him and bring him to court. On the other hand, it is also possible officers did take him into custody. I don’t know how we could distinguish the two kinds of situations in a court document posted online.
Jim,
You seem to deny what is officially written about you (see links posted in the comments), now, you may think to not have been “arrested” yet, the government says so…
Then, you’re accusing Mr Leman of attacking your character, well he’s not, he’s simply stating the facts : in his view you’re teaching something against Torah and the Truth, and you’re now recognized by the authorities to be doing stuff that you…shouldn’t have done. That’s all.
And I read you writing pretty harsh things against Mr Leman (which in your “language” are clearly “un-Christian”), be careful to “judge rightly” as the Messiah said, and not bring upon yourself a judgement from God because you are being proud and arrogant, thinking that you can use Scripture examples, to make us believe that you are being the victim, which you are not.
Face it, you’re twisting Biblical examples and applying them to your actual state in order to make people believe that you’re the “good guy”. Maybe you’re aren’t bad (as an individual), but the Law and those who enforce it say something else.
Remember that we are taught to “submit to the authorities” and those very authorities today say you’re not “clean”, speaking against them is speaking against those whom the LORD has established as authority upon you and all the believers. Be careful yourself not to judge them too easily and too quickly.
We’re not in “tribulation times” as you seem to imply in your comment (as in being unjustly “persecuted” because of your beliefs and teachings), you shouldn’t speak against the government, but pray for them, and if indeed you’re not guilty of anything then you do NOT need to defend yourself as the men in the “world” do, just as you’re doing right here.
Isn’t written” It is mine to avenge; I will repay” ? Instead of attacking Mr. Leman you should have “blessed him” as it is written “bless those who hurt you” and if the love of Messiah was truly in you, you should have “endured all things” and not “dishonored others” (as you just did to him).
Also, you seem to say that we’re all “joined in this” since we believe in Messiah too, well, I do sincerely hope you’re “saved” (whatever that means anymore, that term is overrated), but I can affirm that we have nothing to do with your theology, nor your actions, nor your pride, we love you as a human being, be we cannot and will not consider you as being our “partner”, you’re teaching something against Torah and Messiah, you’re lacking of love and from the testimony of the government you’re breaking the law, and now you’re attacking your very brother, don’t you know that it is written : “Anyone who does not love remains in death” ? Do not go against your own brother as Cain once did with his own brother Abel, but repent and love.
I pray that God may forgive your sins, and those who have sinned against you, may He guide you to His Truth and to a righteous life, being a witness to both the Messianic world and the fallen world.
Shalom.
David
I’m sorry to read this. There shouldn’t be any question as to whether or not he knew he was arrested – he had to post bail, according to the docket. They would have taken a mug shot and he would have been fingerprinted He knew he was arrested. Regardless of whether the charges are legitimate or not, he isn’t telling the truth. I don’t think he’s a bad guy. I’m going to stand behind him in prayer and believe for a good outcome to this.
I am a bit acquainted with the legal system but not an expert. The paperwork says Arrested even if the defendant was not Arrested. Generally Arrested meant to people that an officer went and arrested the person and took them to jail. If you are charged and allowed to turn yourself in you are not arrested in the sense most people think. Handcuffed and put in county lockup.
When you go to court this matters. If you turn yourself in and are not arrested the court looks upon you better.
Your previous article makes it crystal clear you hate Jim. Any good preacher will use similar methods. Jim always says go to the scriptures and find out for yourself. This is one of the reasons I have listened to so many of his videos. I do not know which one you critiqued as the link is broken (video made private).
Although I have watched most of Jim’s Videos like you there are many things I disagree with him on. To me that is healthy. I agree with you some of his facts are not factual. But for the most part the essence of truth is within these videos.
I have spent thousands of hours researching this. Years. I do not know where Jim gets some of his information but most of it I have been able to verify with sources that are not really questionable.
Christian Churches depend heavily on the Church Fathers for doctrine. I mean heavily. They are more believers in Church Fathers than Jesus in reality. You complain about Jim saying Easter is Ishtar. Yet Easter is nowhere in the New Testament. No they were celebrating Passover then the Feast of Unleavened Bread. A feast period overall called Passover that lasted 10 days. This simply can not be disputed if you believe in the Resurrection at all. Yet Christians ignore the example of Jesus and His followers. His Apostles were after Jesus left after 40 days observing the next Feast Day Pentecost. Why if Feast Days are not to be celebrated was it God chose that day to send His Spirit (Holy Ghost) upon the people?
Now that is the facts right out of the Bible. Where is Easter in any of that. Where is the bunny, eggs, chicks, Easter clothing, everything Easter there? Where is the sunrise service. Nowhere.
One more thing. Christians claim that Jesus rose on Sunday Morning. Genesis is clear the Evening and the Morning were the first-seventh day. The new day started in the Evening not Midnight not at Dawn in the Evening. Matthew 28 says Mary was preparing to go to the Tomb as soon as the Sabbath ended. Evening is when it ended. As Mary went the earthquake. Jesus had risen. When Evening just at sunset on Saturday. At the cusp of Sabbath and the First Day as they counted time. I do not know how the word dawn replaced sunset but that is what it was. Otherwise this makes no sense. Not a single part of Easter is accurate other than the fact the Lord was Resurrected.
Ishtar is very well documented as the God of fertility. She hatched from an egg layed by a bunny. She was celebrated with all things related to fertility. Eggs, Chicks, bunnies especially. This was the Spring Festival so every one word new clothing. This sounds like Easter to me. Does it not to you. If not you probably believe the IRS lost emails.
You can argue Ishtar was combined with the Passover and called Easter (how Ishtar is pronounced) if you want. But you can not argue it had nothing to do with Ishtar with any credibility.
The first Church father was Clement. This is from his writings.
Chap. XXV. — The Phoenix an Emblem of Our Resurrection.
Let us consider that wonderful sign [of the resurrection] which takes place in Eastern lands, that is, in Arabia and the countries round about. There is a certain bird which is called a phoenix. This is the only one of its kind, and lives five hundred years. And when the time of its dissolution draws near that it must die, it builds itself a nest of frankincense, and myrrh, and other spices, into which, when the time is fulfilled, it enters and dies. But as the flesh decays a certain kind of worm is produced, which, being nourished by the juices of the dead bird, brings forth feathers. Then, when it has acquired strength, it takes up that nest in which are the bones of its parent, and bearing these it passes from the land of Arabia into Egypt, to the city called Heliopolis. And, in open day, flying in the sight of all men, it places them on the altar of the sun, and having done this, hastens back to its former abode. The priests then inspect the registers of the dates, and find that it has returned exactly as the five hundredth year was completed.
You can download e-sword then His writings. If you believe Jesus would have taught this then I just feel sorry for you. The Church Fathers were the people the Apostles warned against calling them Antichrist. No not the Antichrist. False Prophets. This is a false as it gets. Just who are those Priest he is praising. Well obviously the Priest to Baal.
So when you follow these Chruch Fathers you are of Baal not Jesus.
There blast me if you want. But nothing here is not documented. All you need is your bible and the internet for Ishtar. Verify it for yourself if you do not believe who she was not that hard.
By the way Jim has spoken on this incident. He admitted what he did he is not proud of. I doubt he will be convicted though. I highly doubt that. This incident was a big reason why he is now a Minister from what he said. It felt wrong at some point how he profited and sometimes his clients lost. If you want to place the blame why not where it really belongs though. Rothchild and the Federal Reserve. Good luck taking them down.
Its Rothchild and the Federal Reserves fault, or its baal’s fault or its the “beast systems fault” its the States fault, its the witch hunters fault, its satans fault, its the accuser of the bretherens fault, its Secretary of State Robin Carnahan’s fault, its everyone’s fault except his. smh