Pastor in Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, Charged Over Alleged Misuse of $1.5 Million in Coronavirus Relief Funds

A Washington, D.C., pastor could face up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud after allegedly using government coronavirus relief money for personal expenses, including the purchase of a $60,000 Tesla.

Law enforcement arrested Rudolph Brooks, Jr., of Cheltenham, Maryland, who is identified as the pastor of Kingdom Tabernacle of Restoration, on April 2. Authorities seized more than $2.2 million from eleven bank accounts after records showed he had misused federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan funds.

A criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland states that Brooks applied for a federal PPP loan of more than $1.5 million on behalf of Cars Direct, an automobile resale company he owned. The complaint alleges that he then diverted the money to personal expenditures, including numerous luxury vehicles, property in Baltimore, credit card bills, purchases at restaurants, retail stores and grocery stores, and mortgage payments on his residence.

According to the affidavit, on July 30, 2020, Brooks allegedly initiated a wire transfer from his personal account to Tesla Motors for $60,407 to purchase a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The complaint states that the PPP loan for Cars Direct was approved in May 2020 and that $1,556,589 was deposited into a bank account on which Brooks was the sole signer. Brooks allegedly then opened another account in the name of Payroll by BJM and transferred $500,000 of the loan funds into it. Records showed that no payroll-related expenses were ever paid from that account.

The complaint further alleges that Brooks opened additional accounts in the name of Cars Direct, transferred PPP funds into them, and made numerous transfers from those accounts to his personal bank accounts. It says he used PPP funds from the Cars Direct account and his personal account to buy 39 used automobiles, including the Tesla, a 2005 Bentley Continental, and a 2015 Cadillac Escalade. Federal rules require that PPP loans be used only for payroll costs, mortgage interest, rent, and utilities.

The complaint also alleges that Brooks submitted fraudulent tax forms reporting hundreds of thousands of dollars in unemployment payments to employees. IRS records indicated that Cars Direct had not hired employees or paid unemployment taxes, and the Maryland Department of Labor had no record of Cars Direct paying wages or of Brooks receiving wages. Accurate reporting of payments and taxes is a matter of honest dealing in the handling of public funds (Proverbs 11:1).

Brooks is listed as founder and senior pastor of Kingdom Tabernacle of Restoration Ministries, Inc., located in D.C., according to a Google cache image of the organization’s website. The site says the ministry originated when Brooks was called to help plant a church in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, in 2008. It also describes him as “the first Ordained Elder,” who served as “Assistant Pastor, Chair of finance, Church Administrator, Head of the Men’s ministry, a profound Teacher and anointed Preacher.”

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