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Investors to get money from sale of church
Wednesday, December 19, 2001 By Steve Levin, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Attorneys representing Grace Christian Ministries church and its former pastor, W. Michael Altman, told a judge yesterday that the sale of the West Mifflin church should be completed next month, paving the way for investors to recoup money lost by Altman.
Altman's attorney, Sumner Parker, said afterward that he hoped the repayment of investors would lead to a plea bargain agreement for his client with the Allegheny County district attorney's office.
Charles Saul of Margolis Edelstein, who represents Grace Christian Ministries, told Common Pleas Judge Raymond A. Novak that reimbursement of the 33 investors who lost more than $480,000 would occur "simultaneously with the sale."
The Second Baptist Church of Homestead is paying $950,000 for the 11,000-square-foot church on five acres of land at 612 Coal Road.
After the hearing, Saul said that "at least a half dozen" investors would get their original investments repaid with 16 percent interest, the same return Altman originally promised when he sold the certificates to church members and others.
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr.'s office issued a statement yesterday saying that no offers had been made to Altman in exchange for a guilty plea and none would be without the repayment of investors.
Altman faces more than 100 charges of fraud, deception, criminal conspiracy and tampering with evidence in relation to the investment plan he allegedly ran at the church. The district attorney's office believes that $2 million was channeled through various church accounts controlled by Altman between Jan. 15, 1996 and Oct. 6, 1999. Investors lost more than $400,000.
His trial is scheduled for April 1.
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