Minister Misused Funds, Lawyers Say
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LARGO, Fla. — When the Rev. Henry J. Lyons accepted a $225,000 check to rebuild burned black churches, he sunk $60,000 in his savings account and spent part of the money to redecorate his house and pay off bills, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Lyons had told the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith the money would go immediately to “the wheels that are squeaking the loudest.” But prosecutors said he gave $12,000 to his wife and sent money to love interests in Tennessee and Indiana.
Lyons, president of the National Baptist Convention USA, one of the nation’s largest black denominations, is charged with racketeering and grand theft.
Lyons’ defense lawyers told jurors in opening statements Monday that Lyons held the money in bank accounts while researching how best to distribute it and returned the funds when asked to.
Lyons and co-defendant Bernice Edwards are accused of devising elaborate schemes to divert more than $4 million from corporations seeking to do business with the convention and then spending the money on expensive homes, diamond jewelry and luxury cars.
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