TV Pastor and Radio Host Caught in Federal Securities Frauds

According to materials released by United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, Rennie stole almost four million dollars from various victims, including

• an elderly gentleman who Rennie had known since his childhood,
• retirees who invested their retirement savings with him,
• individuals who listened to Rennie's radio show, and
• a church congregation that had invested the funds they had raised to build a new church.

Rennie solicited his victims to investment in what he described as risk free federal housing certificates with guaranteed rates of return. Investors were told that these investments involved government grants or loans for housing projects, or were otherwise investments in federally subsidized real estate developments.

Rennie persuaded other victims to invest funds in annuity products that he claimed offered guaranteed rates of return.

However, Rennie did not invest his victims' money in the products he described. Rather, he used the funds to pay for his business expenses and, on occasion to make periodic payments to other victims. To conceal his fraud, he showed some of his victims prospectuses for legitimate investment vehicles from respected investment companies. After his victims had invested, Rennie sent his victims bogus invoices which appeared to reflect their investments. These documents, however, bore no relation to the actual manner in which Rennie spent his victims' money.