A Louisiana pastor indicted for allegedly embezzling greater than $343,000 from one in every of two church buildings he leads has denied the fees, saying he labored with out pay for 4 years after discovering monetary issues on the church.
Dale Sanders Sr., 56, pastor of Fifth African Baptist Church of New Orleans, Louisiana, and Second New Information Missionary Baptist Church of Metairie, Louisiana, denied the allegations in a video assertion on Fb on April 22. He mentioned the claims stem from his work on the Metairie church.
“Let me submit to you today that I am a giver, that I’ve always been a giver. I don’t steal, and I have not stolen from a church I’ve pastored. The lies that are swirling about Dale Sanders now will all have to be answered, to my assumption, in a court of law,” he mentioned.
Sanders was charged in an 11-count indictment for entry system fraud and obstruction of a federal investigation, in violation of Title 18 of the U.S. Code, Sections 1029(a)(2), 1029(c)(1)(A)(i), and 1519.
The indictment, introduced Tuesday by U.S. Lawyer David I. Courcelle of the Jap District of Louisiana, alleges that from roughly April 2020 by way of April 2024, Sanders used a debit card linked to a church checking account to withdraw roughly $343,293.
In his April 22 video assertion, Sanders mentioned the allegations stem from an ongoing battle with a former finance supervisor at Second New Information Missionary Baptist Church. He added that when he arrived on the church 13 years in the past, he took over a fractured congregation and later found monetary mismanagement.
“I would show up sometimes for Bible study on Wednesday nights, and the church lights would be off. Other times, we lost church insurance. And when we would go to renew that insurance with another company, it would cost us tens of thousands of dollars,” Sanders mentioned.
He alleged different church leaders urged him to dismiss the finance supervisor when he first grew to become pastor, however he believed doing so could be too disruptive.
Sanders maintained that the church’s funds worsened to the purpose that the finance supervisor requested him to take a $2,000 month-to-month pay reduce. After agreeing, he mentioned he ultimately stopped receiving any wage for 4 years.
“For more than four years, I received a salary of zero from the Second New Guide Missionary Baptist Church. During that time period, I suffered immensely. Number one, my marriage suffered. My wife, at the time, did not know what was going on financially,” Sanders mentioned.
“I never shared it with her, that I was preaching, teaching, pastoring, burying the dead, marrying, doing all the things I did at Fifth African, and doing all the things any pastor does. And I was receiving no wages for that, which was greatly hurting our household.”
He mentioned that consequently, two vehicles have been repossessed, and he needed to switch his youngest son from personal faculty to public faculty throughout his sophomore 12 months.
Sanders mentioned he endured these hardships whereas defending the church’s finance supervisor.
“I shielded what was going on. Shielded this gentleman, covered it to the expense of my own exposure,” he mentioned.
The pastor faces as much as 20 years in jail, a positive of as much as $250,000, as much as three years of supervised launch, and a compulsory $100 particular evaluation payment. He pleaded not responsible throughout an April 27 arraignment and was launched on a $5,000 bond. A trial is scheduled for July 6.
“I’m not a perfect man,” he mentioned. “Dale Sanders has never suggested to anyone that he was a perfect man. But there are some things I would never do. And what I’m being accused of is something I have never done.”
Contact: leonardo.blair@christianpost.com Observe Leonardo Blair on Twitter: @leoblair Observe Leonardo Blair on Fb: LeoBlairChristianPost
“Well bless their hearts.”
