New petition filed against Georgia churches accused of swindling veterans

Alexandra Koch, Augusta Chronicle
Updated ·2 min read

The U.S. Attorney's Office recently filed a petition in federal court to force the House of Prayer Christian Church to provide subpoenaed documents as part of multiple civil investigative demands.

Civil investigative demands are requests for information listed in a subpoena. If CIDs are not complied with, the government can impose criminal contempt charges.

The petition, filed Friday in the U.S District Court in the Southern District of Georgia, relates to the House of Prayer bible seminaries in Hephzibah and Hinesville, which are under investigation by the FBI for allegedly scamming hundreds of veterans out of their G.I. bill entitlements.

The U.S. Attorneys Office in the Southern District of Georgia issued demands on Dec. 9, 2019 and Jan. 27, 2023, seeking documents as part of a civil investigation under the False Claims Act, according to the petition.

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The requests were made to determine whether the bible seminaries or those associated with them submitted false claims for veterans' education and housing benefits offered through the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to the petition.

In response to the first request, the bible seminary said one of the church's leaders, Marcus Labat, would provide certificates of compliance on March 12, 2020, but has yet to provide the requested documents, according to the petition. House of Prayer failed to respond to the second request by the Feb. 23, 2023 deadline, according to the petition.

The U.S. Attorney's Office is asking the court to request the House of Prayer bible seminary to provide sworn certificates of compliance for both requests, as required by law, according to the petition.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: New petition filed against House of Prayer Christian Church