Well-Known Miami Pastor Arrested For Grand Theft- Took Funds From MLK Project

[Ian David]

Black Collar Crime

Well-Known City Pastor Arrested For Grand Theft
Corruption Unit Says Gaston Smith Took Funds From MLK Project
POSTED: 11:47 am EST February 1, 2008

MIAMI -- The pastor of a Liberty City church and chaplain for the City of Miami Police Department is facing grand theft charges after an investigation uncovered alleged misspending of funds earmarked for a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. project.

The Rev. Gaston E. Smith, senior pastor of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, was arrested after a corruption investigation by The Miami-Dade Police Department Public Corruption Investigations Bureau.

The investigation states that the non-profit corporation headed by Smith, Friends of MLK, received a $25,000 grant on June 14, 2005, from the Miami Metro Action Plan (MMAP). In July of 2005, Smith deposited the grant funds into a Washington Mutual bank account in the name of Friends of MLK, Inc., an advocacy group designed to enhance, revitalize and empower the community by addressing its urban ills, according to its mission statement.

According to the grant, the funding was to promote the principles and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., specifically to promote the efforts of revitalizing Northwest 62nd Street, also known as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.



More:
http://www.local10.com/news/15194647/detail.html


He stole from a Martin Luther King, Jr. fund?

What an asshole!


I have a dream.... and I had a wallet, dammit! Reverend Gaston Smith, where's my damn wallet!