U.S. prosecutors: Pastor Cristian Popescu of Washington state indicted on suspicion of $13 million fraud
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington announced on October 13 that Cristian Popescu, 46, a Romanian national and pastor of Passion for Christ Church in Kirkland, Washington, who lives in Bothell, was arraigned that day in U.S. District Court in Seattle and pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of wire fraud and 5 counts of money laundering. The case involves an alleged fraud scheme of about $13 million, and the trial is scheduled for December 21, 2026.
Prosecutors said that since 2015, Popescu had claimed to own and operate Followone, Inc. in Bellevue, describing the company as a platform combining global online transactions and social networking that could be used to buy and sell cars, real estate, medical services, dining, travel and other goods and services. The indictment alleges that the platform was in fact a set of unusable pages and did not generate real revenue; Popescu issued misleading press releases claiming that the company was valued at $1.4 billion, would soon list on Nasdaq, and had about 20 employees (in fact about 3), and rented expensive office space (later evicted for more than $350,000 in unpaid rent).
Prosecutors alleged that Popescu used his pastor identity to recruit more than 30 investors, mostly church members, telling them that God had chosen them to invest, and encouraging them to use retirement funds, loans and their children’s college savings. He claimed that the money would remain in the company and could be withdrawn at any time, and that profits would be used to support the church and the community. The indictment says that he transferred more than $4.5 million in company funds to accounts belonging to himself, his wife and other family members, paid himself more than $1 million in salary from 2017 to 2024, paid his wife about $300,000 even though she was not a real employee, and transferred about $900,000 into his personal stock trading account, while using another roughly $1 million to repay personal credit card debt. When investors questioned him, he allegedly became angry and said the other person was possessed by demons.
Original sources:
Title: Pastor of Kirkland, Washington, church indicted on ten counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering in $13 million fraud scheme Publisher: U.S. Department of Justice（Western District of Washington） Publication date: 2026-10-13 URL：https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/pr/pastor-kirkland-washington-church-indicted-ten-counts-wire-fraud-and-five-counts-money Source type: official press release Verification status: full text key paragraphs read for this report Supporting content: arraignment date, number of charges, $13 million amount, Followone description, fund transfer details, not guilty plea and trial date, FBI and IRS involvement
Title: Kirkland church pastor indicted in $13M fraud scheme Publisher: The Seattle Times Publication date: 2026-10-14 URL：https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/kirkland-pastor-indicted-in-13m-fraud-scheme/ Source type: media report (citing the Department of Justice) Verification status: full text key paragraphs read for this report Supporting content: church name, nonfunctional platform, claim of $1.4 billion valuation, number of investors, fund transfers and salary payment details
Title: Washington pastor accused of $13M fraud after telling investors God picked them to invest Publisher: The Independent Publication date: 2026-10-15 URL：https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/washington-pastor-indictment-fraud-investor-b3067714.html Source type: media report (citing the Department of Justice) Verification status: full text key paragraphs read for this report Supporting content: claim that God chose them to invest, encouragement to use retirement savings and college savings, office eviction details, claim that they were possessed by demons when questioned
ABAB AI Insight
The core of the case is the federal prosecutors’ allegation that a church pastor used a fake technology platform to solicit funds from congregants and others, then moved the money into personal and family accounts. The indictment describes the platform as nonfunctional pages and says the money was used for personal expenses, salary payments and stock trading rather than company operations.
The overlap between investor recruitment and his religious identity is a point emphasized by prosecutors: the indictment says the defendant told congregants that God had chosen them to invest and encouraged them to use retirement accounts and their children’s savings. These statements are allegations and have not yet been determined at trial. The fund-flow details — more than $4.5 million transferred to family accounts, more than $1 million paid to himself in salary, and so on — come from the indictment and are used to describe the alleged diversion path.
At present, the defendant has pleaded not guilty and the case is in the pretrial stage. Key next steps include discovery, whether a settlement is reached, and the trial court’s findings on the platform’s actual function, the destination of funds and investor statements. The official press release and several media reports are based on the indictment and the Department of Justice’s statements, and there is no public information yet showing an independent audit or civil judgment confirming the loss amount.
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An indictment is not the same as a trial finding; the fund-flow details still need to be tested by evidence.
When religious identity overlaps with investor solicitation, prosecutors often treat the trust relationship as one element of fraud.
The gap between the platform’s nonfunctionality and the valuation claims is the core factual basis of the allegations in this case.