Richard Reinaldo Garcia, 53, had ties to several Arlington and Mansfield churches.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Federal prosecutors say an Arlington man took advantage of church networks to fuel a multi-year fraud scheme that allegedly drew in more than $3.2 million and involved more than 50 victims.
A federal grand jury in Fort Worth indicted Richard Reinaldo Garcia, 53, on June 2 on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft. The federal indictment lists an unidentified co-conspirator in the case.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the indictment on July 14 and said the FBI is looking for additional victims. The FBI says investigators believe “he primarily targeted church congregants, their family and friends, beginning in at least 2020 to the present.”
The fraud scheme was carried out across multiple states, the indictment says.
He was arrested on May 2. The Fort Worth Report says he was arrested at DFW Airport. A trial is set for Oct. 13.
Prosecutors allege Garcia courted church contacts in North Texas and beyond with promises of “significant profits” from two kinds of ventures. The first was “church flipping,” which is buying, renovating and reselling church properties.
Court documents state he would also commit fraud via “joint venture” deals to stage international Christian music concerts in locales like Colombia.
Instead, the indictment says, Garcia routed investor money through a web of church-related entities and bank accounts and spent it on operating and personal expenses, making occasional “lulling payments” to keep investors at bay. Lulling payments are described as a way for fraudsters to avoid litigation by giving victims compensation to make the fraud seem legitimate.
According to the indictment, Garcia operated through entities including Ministerio Gracia, Iglesia Gracia de Texas, Gracia Church of Texas, A Pesar de Todo LLC, and MG Kingdom Inc., and directed some investors to characterize transfers as church “donations.”
He also allegedly used a victim’s identity information in 2023 to file Texas paperwork listing that person as a managing member of a limited liability company.