Attorney General Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. came to South L.A. last Friday to announce that his office has launched an investigation into complaints that more than 30 African-American churches in Southern California have been victims of a national network of scam artists who have lured them into contracting for phony money-making ventures which ultimately resulted in the churches’ loss of thousands of dollars.

The scammers pitch kiosks to church leaders as cost-free, high-tech devices that could serve as electronic message boards for parishioners, print retail discount coupons from local merchants for congregants and generate advertising revenue to the churches.

Brown said that while he is investigating the role of several leasing companies in the scam, he is particularly interested in building civil cases against four African-American individuals fingered as the “ring leaders” of the nefarious gang, which has reportedly victimized Black churches in at least 10 states.

The individuals under the attorney general’s scrutiny are Michael Morris of Waldorf, Md., Willie Perkins of Washington D.C., and Tonya Wilson and Wayne Wilson, all of whom are believed to be the owners of national leasing companies which have reportedly served as the money-collecting arm of the scam: The Balboa Capital Corp. of Irvine, United Leasing Associates of America Inc. of Brookfield, Wisc. and Banc of America Leasing Capital, LLC, among others.

“These individuals sold the churches on the promise of free services and advertising revenues, but instead, the churches were enticed into signing expensive leases, which the leasing companies aggressively enforced even after the victims learned they’d been caught in an alleged scam,” Brown said.

Brown discussed his investigation at a news conference at Bryant Temple AME Church, which was attended by three local ministers who described how their churches had been hit by the scam. The Rev. Clyde W. Oden Jr., senior pastor of Bryant Temple, related how he was approached with what was purported to be a fundraising venture in which the church would house a computer kiosk on which businesses would advertise and through which church congregants would obtain discounts from local entrepreneurs.

The church was encouraged to participate in the kiosk venture with promises that not only would it cost them nothing, but that they would actually make money from the advertising businesses will post on their information-ladened computer kiosk.

Once a church agreed to house a kiosk, the scammers presented it with a lease agreement while continuing to assure church leaders that corporate sponsors will cover all the leasing costs. In the end, the churches were billed by the leasing companies for amounts as high as $45,000 for kiosk fees and rentals for computers which, for the most part never worked.

Oden said his church initially pooled funds together to pay down the bogus lease fees and avoid the cost of litigation, but he stated Friday: “We ain’t paying any more. In fact, we want our money back!”

Pastor Gayle Davis-Culp of Hope Trinity AME Church in Long Beach said her church was “naive and duped” by the scammers. “All we were doing was looking for ways to support our congregation,” and the Rev. Ronald Woods, senior pastor of A. K. Quinn Memorial AME Church in Moreno Valley, echoed Davis-Culp’s sentiments, adding: “We were just trying to find ways outside of the collection box to do God’s work.”

Lincoln Memorial Congregational Church has been scammed and hit with lawsuits totaling $31,000 for its failure to pay the lease fees and the church’s attorney, Martin L. Pitha, attended the press conference to hear, firsthand, what Brown plans to do about the problem, which has reportedly hit Black churches in Los Angeles, Compton, Long Beach, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Pasadena, Perris, Pomona, Rialto, Riverside and San Bernardino.

The District of Columbia filed suit against suit against Perkins and Morris and five leasing companies in April, and last month the Michigan attorney general filed criminal charges against Perkins and Morris, including one count of racketeering, one count of conspiracy to commit false pretenses over $20,000, four counts of false pretenses over $20,000 and four counts of fraudulently obtaining a signature.