Thread: Victims fear deportation after saying preacher stole thousan

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Victims fear deportation after saying preacher stole thousands

10:53 AM EDT on Monday, August 7, 2006

By STUART WATSON / 6NEWS
E-mail Stuart: SWatson@WCNC.com

A preacher is accused of taking tens of thousands of dollars from unsuspecting Latinos in the Charlotte area.

The preacher, who called himself the Reverend James Taylor, told Spanish speaking immigrants he could help them with immigration problems. Many of his victims are now reluctant to talk to police for fear they'll be deported.

Taylor's business card said his Christian ministries operated out of a post office box in Matthews.

He said he could help Divina Ramos and hundreds of others get legal papers.

Ramos cleaned houses for almost 20 years to earn the cash she handed over to Taylor in an instant.

She said she had to pay in advance and she gave him her life savings: $13,000.

"When I talk about this topic it really hurts and I want to cry," she said.

In exchange for her $13,000, all she got was an official looking letter.

She was supposed to show it to immigration officers to show she was being processed for a work visa, but when an agent stopped her at the Charlotte airport he told her to come with him because she was an undocumented immigrant.

Taylor worked through a notario, a notary public, on Independence Drive near Sharon Amity who has since closed her doors.

After the local Spanish language newspaper Mi Gente first reported about James Taylor, someone sent them his wedding photo from Texas.

The Spanish language network Telemundo found out that some of Taylor's victims met him at church.

"He wasn't looking like a priest, priest guy or lawyer, had a little stop in my mind like I don't trust him," said Pedro Saldivar, who also gave Taylor money.

Saldivar lost $2,000.

"It's not the money at all, it's the feeling you were going to be legal in this country," he said.

Telemundo reported that Taylor's associate sent a letter claiming he was in a car wreck.

Since then he's vanished, leaving behind dozens, if not hundreds, of victims who are reluctant to complain.

Victims we spoke to said they feared that they would be arrested and deported if they went to the authorities.

Divina Ramos has been placed in deportation proceedings.

She's since hired a real lawyer to plead her case. That lawyer called CMPD fraud detectives.

They are now working on the case of the disappearing reverend.

Ramos cleaned houses for almost 20 years to earn the cash she handed over to Taylor in an instant.

I really have a hard time having sympathy for people in these kinds of sob stories. First of all, she has been here for 20 years and hasn't done anything about her legal status. Secondly, why on earth did she go to a "priest" for her problems? I'm sure after being in the US for 20 years, she would have known to contact the proper authorities to help her immigration status.

Ya well.......I do feel bad for those that lost all that money but that's the company and people one attracts when you don't abide by the laws. Hard to respect your rights and aim for justice when you don't show the same respect for ours.