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Chicago pastor charged with bilking federal program to feed needy kids, spending $142,000 on a Bentley for himself
The slogan once plastered outside the Rev. Clarence Smith Jr.’s storefront church on Chicago’s West Side promised to make the “ministry meaningful to the imperfect man.”
It turns out Smith has been far from perfect himself, federal authorities allege.
Smith, who has led the New Life Impact Church in the Lawndale neighborhood for years, has been indicted on charges alleging he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from a federal program intended to feed needy children, spending the money on a $142,000 Bentley luxury vehicle and other personal expenses.
It’s not the first time that Smith, 45, has been accused of financial malfeasance. Nearly a decade ago, he pleaded guilty in DuPage County to using forged signatures to swindle an elderly man’s estate out of more than $100,000, court records show.
He has been sued by at least two food supply companies for defaulting on contracts and currently owes more than $8,000 in overdue property taxes on his one-story brick church in the 3500 block of West Cermak Road, records show.https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...xli-story.htmlThe charges marked the latest in a long line of Chicago-area preachers who have been accused of stealing from their congregations or social programs.
Smith’s case is startlingly similar to charges brought against Herman Jackson, a Cicero pastor convicted in 2015 of submitting false documents to secure hundreds of thousands of dollars in state subsidies for day care centers. Jackson, too, was accused of using the stolen money to purchase a brand-new Bentley. He was later sentenced to five years in prison.
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