VALLEJO (KPIX 5) – Earlier this month, KPIX 5 reported about leaders of a Bay Area church embroiled in an alleged illegal real estate scheme. The victims: all parishioners, who said they were brainwashed into investing their life savings.

Since the story aired, we heard from other former members, some who admit they took part in the alleged scheme.

Robert Clark still remembers his first day at General Assembly’s former church in Berkeley 26 years ago. The building now belongs to a different congregation. “It was 1986 and I was 12 years old,” he said.

Clark said as General Assembly grew its leaders Lacy Hawkins and later on Michael Parker became more controlling. “It was a subtle stroking of your conscience until you bend,” said Clark.

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Clark said he was talked into leaving his successful real estate job to use his skills in a new church venture, called Stellar Enterprise, run by Parker. “It was extremely secretive,” he said.

Meetings were held after church services and behind closed doors. Clark says his job was to buy and flip properties.

The money came from hundreds of parishioners, who mortgaged homes and drained retirement accounts on the promise of generous returns and even salvation.

Clark admits at first, he profited. “I began to make money, and lots of money,” he said.

But he believes when Parker realized how much the commissions were, he changed the rules and put Clark on salary. “I went from receiving an average of $20,000 a month in commissions to $1,600 every two weeks, in the form of a paycheck,” he said.

Clark admits he was suspicious but kept quiet. Other employees also grew suspicious.

“The books were only open to a select group,” said Stanley White, also a former church member.

White was hired to pump up business in the congregation. But White said even he could never get details on investment properties, such as the so-called Woodlands of Ascension project in Louisiana. “It was nothing saying ok here is the address you can take a look at it,” he said.

According to White, construction work on the mystery development never started. In an earlier interview with KPIX 5, church elder and stellar CEO Michael Parker said, “Hurricane Katrina happened.”

But the Army Corps of Engineers said part of the Louisiana property was a swamp even before Katrina. Parker said he paid close to $3 million for the property.

Former employees said that failed investment was Stellar’s last. In 2006, the company suddenly shut down, leaving investors with nothing.

“Eventually the gimmick of shuffling real estate and receiving new investments to pay your old investments, the game stops,” said Clark.

He left General Assembly in 2007. “I felt angry, I felt unclean,” he said.

In a twist of fate, Clark has discovered he is a victim as well. He owes close to $1 million in taxes on real estate commissions that he said church leaders pocketed in his name.

“I really feel taken,” he said.

Attorneys for the church leaders confirm they switched Robert Clark from getting real estate commissions to getting a salary, but they claim he was being paid at competitive rates.

Whatever their explanations, state investigators have been looking into their finances: A judge has issued a ruling on the case and we could hear the results any day now.

Sources also told KPIX 5 the state Attorney General is also looking at possible criminal violations, something the AG’s office has neither confirmed nor denied.

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Article source: http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/03/15/ex-bay-area-church-members-describe-alleged-real-estate-scheme/

Cherif Medawar Real Estate Investing (CMREI), a commercial real estate training and investment opportunity company, announces exciting discounted secured real estate mortgage notes at his free seminars in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

These “Investing” seminars or events promise to teach participants a low risk, low hassle way to invest in real estate cash flow instruments with high benefits and rewards that will lead to the opportunity of making 14% to 40% fairly safe yield per year.

“Owning secured mortgage notes is a proven path to wealth especially if you acquire them at a discount,” said Cherif Medawar, Founder of CMREI.

Since 2009, Medawar has been purchasing hundreds of homes in bulk REOs from banks and asset managers. Medawar then turned around and rehabbed them, then sold them by carrying the financing. Consequently, the End-Buyers (who often do not have the best credit) got to own a home by making low monthly installment payments, often lower than rent in the neighborhood. Medawar presented these Notes for resale at a discount to his student/investors from CMREI and ended up creating a win/win/win business model with over 1000 families getting into homes and 1000 mortgage notes sold at a discount to investors.

The seminar will be a full day in which local Bay Area and Anaheim investors will have the opportunity to understand how this business model works and how they can participate on any level they wish. This process allows the students to truly learn and earn while establishing a steady monthly cash flow with an instant increase in their net worth when they buy any note at a discount off its face value.

Participants can use their retirement accounts or credit lines if they wish to buy the discounted real estate notes that weathered the economy for the past 20 years plus.

Previous students of Medawar have found such great success in Medawar’s business plan that they have expressed their excitement on YouTube.

“He [Cherif] is the real deal,” said Roxanna, a real estate broker in Southern California who attended a Cherif Medawar seminar. “I’m looking forward to bringing my clients, my investors on board, which I have. Now we have lists. We have properties. We have avenues to go to…that we did not have before. So, he’s the real deal. I’m looking forward to it. Thanks, Cherif.”

The first seminar will be held on Saturday, March 26, from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m at the Santa Clara Marriott in Santa Clara, CA. The second seminar is on Sunday, March 27, from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. at the Sheraton Anaheim Hotel in Anaheim, CA.

About Cherif Medawar Real Estate Investing:

For 20 Years Cherif Medawar, Founder of Cherif Medawar Real Estate Investing, has been sharing his successful Real Estate Investing techniques. He now makes it possible not only to learn alongside him but to also invest where he invests and ‘learn while YOU earn’.

Those wishing to learn more and/or get involved with his successful business models including how to get huge cash flows secured by real estate should attend a free presentation held by Cherif Medawar personally. For dates, times and locations please go to: www.events.cmrei.com.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prwebcherif-medawar/real-estate-seminar/prweb8234925.htm

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/03/24/prweb8234925.DTL