Associated Press
The three men, claiming to have been rescued from financial ruin by divine intervention, went to homes and churches across North and South Carolina spreading tales of financial rescue. With an investment of just pennies on the dollar, they promised an end to credit card debt, mortgages and hefty car loans.
And word of the “3 Hebrew Boys” spread. Small meetings in living rooms grew to fill church meeting halls and hotel ballrooms, with followers wooed, authorities now say, by promises of massive returns from investments in foreign currencies.
Tony Pough, Timothy McQueen and Joseph Brunson — three men who attend church together — created their endeavor in 2005 and named it after a tale in the Bible of three people who were thrown into a fiery furnace but spared because of their faith in God. Stories of their investment plan spread quickly thanks to believers who recruited new clients on military bases and in churches.
By the time authorities moved in, at least 7,000 investors from two dozen states had handed over $80 million. But barely any of it was invested — less than $40,000, according to state and federal officials — while the men bought a jet, luxury cars and tickets to football games, court documents show…
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