Saturday, April 04, 2015

And now for today's head banger
on the closest brick wall...

This would make a good headline for The Onion.

Sadly, it's not satire at all.

Harris Himes, who calls himself "pastor" of the Big Sky Christian Center in Montana (the address of which is Himes's post office box), got himself in a bit of hot water recently.

He and another "pastor," James "Jeb" Bryant, apparently swindled an investor out of $150,000 by claiming to own a business called Duratherm Building Systems and promising good returns.

From the Missoulian:
The charges included theft, fraud, conspiracy to commit both, failure to register a security and failure to register as a salesman of same.According to court records, Himes and Bryant claimed to own a business, Duratherm Building Systems, and promised at least one investor a large return on his $150,000.
But the investor claimed to have never received any returns or confirmation of sale, nor could he get his money back.Duratherm Building Systems was connected to another company, Monarch Beach Properties, which Himes and Bryant claimed was a "type of parent corporation."
The state investigation revealed several inconsistencies with respect to these companies.
For one, Monarch is solely owned by Bryant and his wife, and the business address linked to the money-wiring instructions given to the alleged victim is for an apartment complex in Rockville, Md.
The state of Maryland has no listing for Monarch.
Duratherm has a website that lists Mexican and U.S. phone contact numbers.
The U.S. phone number has a 202 area code, indicating Washington, D.C. Rockville is just outside Washington, D.C., and when the number is dialed the voice on the message claims to be James Bryant, who then signs off with "Have a blessed day."