Warrants have been issued for the arrest of a US missionary, considered a fugitive, accused of using $7 million donated towards distributing bibles in China for his farm business.
According to a newly unsealed federal indictment, Jason Gerald Shenk, a former resident of Dublin, Georgia, is being sought internationally on multiple charges alleging he orchestrated a scheme that misdirected more than $30 million donated for Christian ministry in China.
The 45-year-old man is charged with four counts of wire fraud, three counts of international concealment money laundering, and 13 counts of concealment money laundering.
He is also facing 21 counts of money laundering involving transactions greater than $10,000 and one count of failure to file report of foreign bank account.
Missionary
Shenk is alleged to have planned and executed a scheme in which he obtained around $33 million from faith-based charities and individual donors, primarily from religious communities in Ohio and North Carolina.
This was based on promises that he would use the funds for producing and distributing Bibles and Christian literature in China.
Instead, the indictment alleges Shenk converted a significant amount of the funds to his own use, including payments of approximately $7 million to the company running Shenk’s family farm.
It is also claimed he used the funds, which were directed to a variety of shell corporations, for purchasing diamonds, gold, online gambling, shares, life insurance policies and property.
The indictment alleges Shenk perpetrated the scheme from as early as April 2010 until July 2019, and that he renounced his US citizenship in 2016 to avoid financial reporting requirements under federal law.
Jill E. Steinberg, US attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, said that if convicted, the missionary could face up to 20 years in jail, along with “substantial financial penalties”.
There is no parole in the federal system, she added.
“When people of faith donate money for evangelistic purposes, they reasonably expect those who solicit their donations to act as faithful stewards of those funds.
“This case alleges an egregious breach of that trust at the expense of multiple charities and individual donors,” Steinberg said.
Warrants have been issued by authorities for Shenk’s arrest. He is considered innocent unless and until found guilty in court.