Miami Gardens pastor stole 76-year-old’s home, left him thousands in debt, authorities say
A Miami Gardens pastor was arrested Tuesday after investigators say he snatched away an elderly man’s dream home under the guise of helping him, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office announced.
Eric Readon, 46, the pastor of New Beginnings Missionary Baptist Church, was being held Tuesday in Miami-Dade’s Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $42,500 bond.
He faces charges including exploitation of an elderly or disabled person, organized scheme to defraud, conspiracy to commit organized scheme to defraud, theft from a person 65 years or older, and grand theft.
No attorney information was available Tuesday night. No one answered the number listed for church Tuesday night. A voicemail message went unanswered.
“There is something particularly galling when an alleged fraudster snatches away the very hopes and dreams of one of our senior residents,” said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle in a news release Tuesday.
Readon is well-known around Miami-Dade for speaking out against gun violence. He once sued WPLG TV for $50 million, accusing it of defamation, after the station produced several reports alleging wrongdoing on Readon’s part. The lawsuit was dismissed.
According to court records, Readon was given probation on charges of strong-armed robbery in 2003 and grand theft in 1998.
According to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office on Tuesday:
Readon introduced himself to Edward Fuller, 76, who was renovating his home in the 10000 block of Northwest 19th Avenue. Readon then told Fuller that for $15,000, he would help get a loan to finish the house. Once renovation was completed, Fuller would obtain a mortgage to pay off the loan and Readon’s $15,000 fee.
Days later, Readon met Fuller at an office where the older man showed the pastor a quit-claim deed, which would transfer 50% ownership of Fuller’s property to Project Youth Outreach Unlimited — a not-for-profit corporation owned by Readon, the state attorney’s office said.
Readon, investigators said, told Fuller that he would have to sign the deed in order to obtain the loan. After the renovation at the house was completed, Readon would sign back full ownership of the home to Fuller.
Fuller, who saw Readon as “a man of God,” signed over half his ownership, the state attorney’s office said. This is when authorities say that Readon’s “complex” scheme began, which involved numerous property deed transfers, construction loans, mortgages and credit card advances. All of this was intended to “confuse and deceive Fuller” — and eventually led to the older man signing over his entire home to Readon, authorities say.
“Readon induced Fuller to enter into a business relationship and then financially exploited him. All Fuller obtained from his interactions with Readon was debt,” the state attorney’s office said.
Readon managed to take full ownership of the house and sold it without Fuller knowing, and in total, Readon stole about $267,000 from Fuller, according to the state’s attorney’s office.
The state attorney’s office also said that Readon used Fuller’s property to defraud newlyweds Safiyah and Calvin Singleton. He promised them a rent-to-buy agreement and had them give him $3,100, the office said.
“Readon stole Safiyah and Calvin’s money and left them without a home to sleep in just before their first Christmas together as a married couple,” the state attorney’s office said.
FDLE Special Agent-in-Charge Troy Walker said, “It is truly disgraceful when someone tries to scam our most vulnerable citizens, especially when that someone promotes himself as a person in a position of public trust.”
This story was originally published February 16, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
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