When his financial flimflam started to collapse, Strawder began cooperating with investigators and tried to recoup investors' original money. Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Thomas A. Sadaka said Friday. State banking officials have accused Thomas, a Duluth, Ga., man, and Plant City resident Charles Tomlinson, of serving as fronts for Greater Ministries' attempt to buy a controlling interest in a Broward County bank. Payne and Hall exaggerated when talking about the program's scale, the indictment said. The U.S. Attorney's Office declined to offer a different estimate.
Anecdotal information suggests the program is worth tens of millions of dollars.
Investors were never told about the commissions. Greater Ministries attracted about 1,000 people to a meeting in Lebanon, Pa., last November. The Executive Inn is singled out for government seizure in the indictment and the headquarters building, at 715 E. Bird St., could be targeted in the document's open-ended language. Greater Ministries touted the venture as the answer to its financial strain during a November meeting in Pennsylvania. The ministry's leaders said they stood at the precipice of a mother lode - billions of dollars in gold reserves a mere 15 feet below the surface.