Retired pastors have filed at least two federal lawsuits in recent weeks against the African Methodist Episcopal Church along with several subsidiaries and financial firms the church used, alleging tens of millions of dollars from a pension fund were mismanaged and missing.
The retired pastors in Florida and Maryland filed the lawsuits against the oldest historically Black denomination in the U.S. late last month. They are seeking class-action status on behalf of thousands of other AME pastors and church officials throughout the U.S. who lost money through the pension fund.
The pastors, all of whom have worked about a quarter century for the church and were required to participate in the retirement plan, said they have been unable to get access to their money.
The lawsuit filed by the Florida pastor, the Rev. Charles Jackson in Orlando, alleges the church and its related financial institutions were negligent and breached their fiduciary responsibilities. Jackson is seeking a jury trial and punitive damages in the complaint filed in federal court in Tennessee.
“Many Class member — including Plaintiff Reverend Jackson — are retired and have suddenly learned that resources they relied on to support themselves, to depend on in times of bad health, and to simply enjoy during retirement, have been stolen from them by people they trusted," the lawsuit said.
In his lawsuit, the Rev. Cedric Alexander of Bowie Maryland, said the then-chair of the church's retirement fund invested money in undeveloped land in Florida and a now-defunct capital venture outfit, and gave a promissory note to an installer of solar panels. The lawsuit alleges violations of a federal law protecting employee retirement funds.
The church's retirement fund chair “invested Plan assets in imprudent, extraordinarily risky investments that ultimately lost nearly $100 million of Plan participants’ retirement savings," the Maryland lawsuit said.
The church didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday. However, in a message posted to its website late last month, the church acknowledged that retirement fund participants “may have been the victim of a financial crime."
After a new administrator of the church's Department of Retirement Services took over last year, financial “irregularities" were uncovered in some retirement fund investments. The church has hired an outside legal firm and forensics experts to conduct an investigation, the statement said.
“The AME Church takes financial irregularities and disclosures seriously, and we are committed to the restoration of any impacted retirement funds," the statement said. “We are also committed to making every fund participant whole by restoring their full investment plus interest."
Jackson, 72, told The Associated Press in a phone interview that he feels betrayed.
“When you take advantage of my money, you lose my trust,” Jackson said. “You lose the trust of your employees.”
