Cops: Naperville pastor bilked men out of $470,000

The pastor of a storefront church in Aurora has been charged with bilking three men, including a member of his congregation, out of more than $470,000, authorities said Wednesday.

Howard Richmond, 49, of the 2900 block of Brossman Avenue in Naperville, faces three felony counts of theft by deception. He was taken into custody without incident around 6 a.m. Wednesday after Aurora police executed a search warrant at his home.

Richmond is the head of Life Ministries at 4054 Fox Valley Center Drive.

Aurora police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said the criminal charges came after an ongoing investigation that began more than 13 months ago.

Ferrelli said a 60-year-old Skokie doctor who attends Life Ministries accused Richmond of swindling him out of roughly $400,000 between December 2008 and March 2009.

The doctor told police Richmond approached him following a service about investing money to help purchase the shopping center property where the church is located and to help fund a new church, Ferrelli said.

According to the victim, Richmond had documents indicating he had several million dollars to help fund the investment, but due to a complicated business partnership, could not access the funds until a later date. Richmond also allegedly promised the doctor a healthy return on his investment, Ferrelli said.

After initially giving Richmond $11,000, the victim handed over money on several more occasions when Richmond gave him different reasons why the money could not be accessed, authorities said.

Richmond also used the same ruse to deceive a 43-year-old Aurora man out of $8,000 and a 64-year-old Chicago dentist out of $67,000, Ferrelli said.

It is not clear what Richmond did with the money.