Church leaders used ‘extreme control’ to steal millions from veterans, feds say
Eight leaders of a Christian church “exercised extreme control and manipulation” over hundreds of congregants for years as part of fraud schemes to get rich, according to federal prosecutors.
They are accused of targeting U.S. military members for indoctrination and stealing millions from veterans and banks.
The leaders of House of Prayer Christian Churches of America, including founder “Rony Denis” whose true name and age are unknown, were arrested Sept. 10 on charges of bank fraud, wire fraud and tax offenses, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia said in a news release.
Denis is a stolen name, according to prosecutors, who said “Rony Denis” has used the identity since 1983 before he became a U.S. citizen in 2002. He was said to live in Hinesville and Martinez, Georgia, as well as West Palm Beach, Florida.
After 2002, prosecutors said he established the House of Prayer and House of Prayer Bible Seminary, which are related Bible seminaries.
There are around 10 to 12 churches in at least five states, including in Hinesville, where it has the largest congregation of about 200 to 300 members, according to court documents.
The locations were set up near U.S. military bases “for easier recruitment and indoctrination of military members,” some of whom were directed by church leadership to attend the bible seminaries and use their military benefits to pay for attending,” the indictment says.
The indictment was unsealed Sept. 10 and names seven other House of Prayer leaders:
- Anthony Oloans, 54, of Hinesville, the “Executive Assistant to Denis”
- Joseph Fryar, 51, of Hinesville and Martinez Georgia, and a House of Prayer “volunteer minister” in Hinesville
- Dennis Nostrant, 55, of Hinesville, a bookkeeper for different House of Prayer churches and “volunteer minister”
- Gerard Robertson, 57, of Hinesville, the “director” and CEO of the House of Prayer Bible Seminary in Hinesville
- David Reip, 52, of Hinesville, a House of Prayer “volunteer minister”
- Marcus Labat, 42, of Hinesville, the “Controller” and “School Certifying Official” at the House of Prayer Bible Seminary and House of Prayer “volunteer minister”
- Omar Garcia, 40, of Palm Bay, Florida, a “School Certifying Official” and “registrar” at the House of Prayer Bible Seminary and a House of Prayer “volunteer minister”
Information on their legal representation was not listed in court records the afternoon of Sept. 11.
Manipulation and control methods
Since 2004, Denis, worked with individuals he recruited from a different church, the New Testament Christian Church, to create the House of Prayer.
House of Prayer Bible seminaries were set up in five locations: Hinesville and Hephzibah in Georgia, Killeen, Texas, Fayetteville, North Carolina and Tacoma, Washington, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors said, “The indictment alleges that members were manipulated into turning over personal information, pressured into marriages and divorces arranged by church leaders, and forced to live in properties tied to the defendants that generated rental income.”
To recruit military members, church leaders ordered non-military members to lure them through “a technique called ‘soul winning,’” according to the indictment.
After becoming a member, military personnel were manipulated into handing over their benefits from the Veteran Affairs administration to the church leaders through accounts belonging to the church, prosecutors said.
Leaders paid themselves and put the money toward their credit card bills, according to prosecutors, who said the leaders “disguised” payouts as “expense reimbursements” and “love offerings.”
As one way to keep all congregants under control, leaders expected the members to attend online church meetings every day, according to the indictment. If someone wanted to miss a meeting, they needed approval from Denis, Robertson, or another church leader, the filing says.
Other control tactics involved how members were required to report “infractions and violations” of church rules to the leaders, humiliation for “purported violations” and ex-communication from former members, “including family,” according to prosecutors.
Additionally, Bible seminary students “would be ‘counseled’ in writing for infractions of ‘Student Conduct,’ to include such things as texting a person of the opposite gender, wearing ‘worldly and unbecoming attire;’ ‘insubordination;’ ‘Defiance;’ and ‘Sewing Discord and sedition,’” the indictment says.
The fraud schemes
Denis and fellow church leaders are accused of a bank fraud scheme from 2004 until 2025, as well as a scheme to steal education benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs and military veterans.
In the bank scheme, they had church members act as “straw buyers” to fraudulently buy real estate, according to prosecutors.
The purchased properties were turned into rental homes, resulting in House of Prayer leaders profiting $5.2 million between 2018 and 2020, according to prosecutors.
The other scheme involved church leaders securing a religious exemption in Georgia for two of five House of Prayer Bible seminaries to get federal funding, prosecutors said.
This resulted in the five Bible seminaries receiving more than $23.5 million in military education benefits, according to prosecutors.
“The scheme funneled funding from VA education benefits to its seminary and related church accounts, enriching the defendants while exhausting some veterans’ benefits, often without students completing their programs,” prosecutors said.
Denis is also accused of filing false tax returns for 2018, 2019 and 2020 while the other schemes were underway.
On Sept. 10, the FBI raided Denis’ $1.96 million mansion in Martinez, WSB-TV reported.
In a statement, Paul Brown, the special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta, said, “The defendants are accused of exploiting trust, faith, and even the service of our nation’s military members to enrich themselves.”
This story was originally published September 11, 2025 at 12:42 PM with the headline "Church leaders used ‘extreme control’ to steal millions from veterans, feds say."
.jpg)