Victims of Christian Prayer Center's pay-to-pray scam can receive refund
The office of the state attorney general in Washington has ordered the websites owned by Christian Prayer Center to be shut down. The center was found to have been scamming people into paying for prayers.
"I believe in the power of prayer," attorney general Bob Ferguson said in a statement reported by The Guardian on Wednesday. "What I do not believe in and what I will not tolerate is unlawful businesses that prey upon people – taking advantage of their faith or their need for help – in order to make a quick buck."
The Christian Prayer Center was put up by Benjamin Rogovy, a businesman who charged people from $9 to $35 for intercessory prayers. He set up the website christianprayercenter.com and its Spanish counterpart, oracioncristiana.org, fake ministries, and non-existing Pastor Eric Johnson and Pastor Carlson.
Among those who fell victim to the scam is one family whose child is terminally ill. They paid CPC $35 first, then their credit card was charged a second and third time without them knowing. It was when the father discovered those charges that he contacted Daniel Davis, the assistant attorney general.
"The pastor was a sham," Davis said, as quoted in another report by The Guardian. "The testimonials were fictitious as well."
The company, according to Ferguson, amassed more $7 million from 2011 to 2015, duping 125,000 people, with a total of more than 400,000 transactions overall.
Rogovy is also involved in two other scams, a fake consumer complaint agency and a fake ordination service. He has reportedly agreed to return a total of $7.75 milion to 165,000 people.
People who wish to have a refund can file a complaint at the office of the attorney general before June 12. Those affected will receive an email by April 6 coming from the Christian Prayer Center regarding the process to be followed.
