Ministers Who Sold Investments To Congregation Ordered To 'Desist'

 Editor's note: This article has been modified on June 26th to correct the description of certain aspects of the Department of Corporations proceedings as of March 6th. Also, two paragraphs have been removed because they referred to a KPIX report that has been removed from the KPIX web site.

March 6, 2013 —  The state Department of Corporations says the founding pastor and another minister at the General Assembly Church in Union City misled members of their congregation by saying, among other things, that they "would not have eternal life" unless they invested in a pair of companies controlled by the two men.

They are Lacy Hawkins, the Church's founding pastor, and fellow minister Michael E. Parker. A call to the church was not returned. An attorney who had represented one of the companies said she could not comment on the matter.

Hawkins, Parker and the companies have requested a hearing on the state order that was issued last July.

That hearing before an administrative law judge is designed to produce a proposed decision subject to review by State Department of Corporations Commissioner Jan Lynn Owen.

So far this is a civil matter that carries no penalties. The two men were simply ordered to "desist and refrain” from the activities that were the subject of the order.

Depending on what Owen decides, however, the matter could also be referred to law enforcement for possible criminal action.

Department of Corporations spokesman Mark Leyes said the state investigation began after some members of the congregation complained that they had made what turned out to be money-losing investments in the two companies.

According to the order issued in July, “Parker, with the substantial assistance of Hawkins,” controlled two real-estate based companies, Daystar Investments and Stellar Enterprise Associates.

Department enforcement officer Alan Weinger found that, beginning in 2002, Hawkins, the founding pastor, helped Parker ask church members to make investments as large as $250,000.

Weinger's order accused the pair of nine separate "misstatements and omissions" that included the aforementioned loss of eternal life, as well as assertions that the investments were risk-free because they were secured to real estate.

"In fact, the nature of the enterprise was such that many investors never received a return of their principle (sic) or any interest," Weinger's order said.