Brian Shane Haigler

What the public record shows

Brian Shane Haigler, 43, of Mint Hill, North Carolina — who served as treasurer of Living Praise Church in Monroe, North Carolina — ran a Ponzi scheme totaling nearly $1.5 million and was sentenced to 33 months in prison. This is a criminal conviction — not an allegation.

The scheme — trust, exploited in stages

According to the U.S. Secret Service, Haigler’s seven-year scheme escalated across the groups that trusted him:

• First he swindled real-estate investors,
• then fellow church parishioners — using his standing as church treasurer,
• and finally the federal COVID-19 relief program.

It’s a compact illustration of affinity fraud: the fraudster’s trusted role — here, a church financial officer — is exactly what disarms the victims’ skepticism.

Why we rate this 1 / 10 — Avoid

A conviction and a 33-month sentence for abusing the trust of a congregation. The dollar figures are smaller than the mega-Ponzis on this site, but the mechanism is identical — and it’s the mechanism, not the size, that should scare you.

How to protect your faith community

• A trusted role is not a credential. Being the treasurer, the elder, or “one of us” says nothing about whether an investment is real.
• Insist on the same diligence you’d give a stranger: written terms, third-party custody, audited returns, and a check of the promoter’s record.
• Faith leaders can help by refusing to let the pulpit be used to endorse investments.

Bottom line

Convicted and sentenced. Affinity fraud runs on borrowed trust. The more a pitch leans on “we’re the same kind of people,” the more independent verification it deserves.

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