Prayer Fraud Sentence
By: Jennifer Griggy
Updated: May 18, 2007
(Little Rock) A Benton County man who claimed he could use the power of prayer to deliver three-digit returns to investors will serve three years behind bars for securities fraud.
Forty-five-year-old Michael Kent Zedlitz of Garfield received the sentence after pleading guilty to bilking victims of over 470 thousand dollars in the scheme, which he ran in 2003 and 2004.
Zedlitz reportedly told investors he could double or triple their money using stock-trading software he had developed. He also reportedly told them that he would begin each trading day by kneeling before his computer, placing his hands on it and praying for divine guidance.
Zedlitz was also ordered to pay restitutions to victims GÇö mostly northwest Arkansas residents who were members of an Arizona church.
(Copyright 2007 Newsroom Solutions, LLC)
