A dozen more people sued in church cryptocurrency scam | News
The web spun by a Denver pastor and his wife who allegedly conned followers out of millions of dollars in a crypto-currency scheme has widened. Colorado Securities Commissioner Tung Chan expanded her complaint against Eligio “Eli” and Kaitlyn Regalado to include a dozen more defendants including Regalado’s father, and a brother-in-law.
The Regalados were the only employees of the online Victorious Grace Church, according to the complaint. But the amended document added twelve other defendants which it states the couple recruited to sell securities for them and added that they did so without the required license.
The complaint states that between January 2022 and July 2023, a few of the recruits made anywhere from $15,500 to $27,000 in commissions each.
The additional defendants are Regalado’s father, Eligio Regalado Sr,. his brother-in-law, Daniel Applegate, his former brother-in-law, Jesse Buccholz, Nathanael Enos, Eternal Realities, Erin Giles, Jesse Duplantis, Erik Skeldon, Tri Vision Global, Blacktribe, Johnny Daughtry and Sheri Erbaugh, according to the renewed complaint.
According to the amended complaint, these added defendants are located all over the country as far as away as Iowa, Nebraska, and South Carolina.
Most of them appear to be affiliated with various religions organizations, for instance the complaint states that Erbaugh is the pastor of Littleton’s Authentic Life Church and Duplantis runs Duplantis Ministries in Destrehan, Louisiana.
An email to the Authentic Life Church requesting a response was not returned at the time of this writing and representatives of Duplantis Ministries had not comment when reached by phone.
As previously reported by The Denver Gazette, the Regalados face charges of allegedly creating and promoting a cryptocurrency called INDXcoin within Christian communities, promising wealth based on divine guidance, which resulted in losses for investors.
In YouTube post titled “INDXcoin is launching!!!!” Regalado told his followers that God was getting ready to explode.
“The Lord said it. The Lord did it. Question is, who wants to be a part of it?,” said Regalado on the video.
In the fallout from the cryptocurrency fraud, authorities are seeking relief for investors and advise caution against what they allege is securities fraud.
From June 2022 to April 2023, INDXcoin raised more than $3 million from more than 300 people according to the original complaint filed last month by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.
Regalado promised “huge profits and guaranteed returns,” but then spent nearly $1.3 million of the money for expensive travel and meals, and a Range Rover which was referred to on the couple’s check ledger as “Kait car.”
The Regalados also transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars into Victorious Grace Church, which they ran out of their home, from their vehicle or from wherever the couple happened to be on vacation.
Among the crimes the original complaint alleged is that Regalado committed affinity fraud by selling securities to a network of Christian communities and convincing innocent people to believe him by using biblical citations to create legitimacy.
Eli Regalado told people that his inspiration came from God. In his August 22, 2022 update video, he stated: “It was last October (2021) that the Lord brought this cryptocurrency to me. He said ‘Take this to my people for a wealth transfer.’ It has been confirmed 100 times since then.”
Regalado promised “huge profits and guaranteed returns,” according to the first complaint filed by the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.
The action, filed last Thursday in Denver District Court, seeks preliminary and injunctive relief, damages for investors and for a constructive trust to be placed on the Defendants’ property.
Regalado did not appear in Denver for the Jan. 29 hearing to review the motion. Instead, the Colorado pastor was in Zambia attending the “Glory Shift Conference” at the “Gifted Faith Ministry” as shown in photos and posts from the ministry’s Facebook page.
Denver District Court Judge Goldberg called the case an example of “egregious greed” and granted a continuation of the injunction and asset freeze.
Calls to Jesse Duplantis and Sheri Erbaugh were not returned by press time.
If you or someone you know has invested with INDXCoin or any of Eli Regalado’s other entities, please contact the Colorado Division of Securities at dora_SecuritiesWebsite@state.co.us or 303-894-2320.
Denver Gazette digital editor Marco Cummings contributed to this report.
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