It’s the end of the world as he knows it – and he doesn’t quite feel fine.
Ronald Weinland was fairly certain that the world was ending… sometime. Weinland served as a minister for a Cincinnati, Ohio based church, the Church of God – Preparing for the Kingdom of God, which streamed sermons live on the internet. Weinland developed something of a following for his controversial beliefs, including the idea that the end of the world was fast approaching. He wrote a book in 2006, advising his believers that the end of the world was coming and that he and his wife, Laura, were the two witnesses to the end of the world as appointed by God (how convenient that they ran into each other).
Using information gleaned from the Bible, Weinland calculated the end of the world to be September 30, 2008. The end would occur after a series of particularly complicated events occurred, including, apparently, the destruction of the United States during World War III and the rise of the Pope as the Anti-Christ (I don’t make this stuff up folks, I just report it).
When that day came and went, Weinland amended his calculations, claiming an error and revising the date to May 27, 2012. Somehow, we all survived that, too. He now claims that the world will end on May 19, 2013 (sadly, for many of my readers, that falls after the day that your 2012 taxes are due).
Apparently, Weinland wasn’t completely convinced that he was going to heaven. In 2002, he announced that he would begin preparing for the second coming of Christ. And by preparing, he meant redirecting church funds to a Swiss bank account and carrying jewels and precious metals with him, since he would need liquid assets for bartering when the financial system crashed (I guess that was the back-up plan if the Swiss didn’t come through).
And all the time that he’s been preparing, the IRS and the Department of Justice were watching with interest. On November 10, 2011, Weiland was indicted by a federal grand jury on five charges of tax evasion. The allegations included that he had understated his income on federal tax returns, used church funds for personal use, and failed to report that Swiss bank account.
Despite the fact that he believed the world would end, Weinland set himself up pretty well. He lived in a nearly $400,000 home, where he used church money to pay for security. He wore expensive suits and went shopping at Nordstrom, allegedly on the church’s tab. On his taxes, he deducted stays at Las Vegas casinos and other tony venues, defending them as meetings with his followers.
During the trial, prosecutors argued that Weinland’s religious beliefs were no excuse for failing to report. In response, defense attorneys argued that Weinland was protecting church funds from the pending collapse of the U.S. financial system due to the end of the world (hmm… any word from Goldman Sachs?).
Not surprisingly, the jury – who were all still on earth when Weinland’s trial arrived – didn’t buy his excuses. It took the jury less than four hours to deliberate and he was found guilty on all counts of tax evasion just last week. Weinland’s sentencing is scheduled for September 24, 2012 (before the end of the world) and he is expected to serve time in prison, as well as make restitution. One can only assume that he’s hoping for May 19, 2013, to roll around before that time.
The feds didn’t buy it. And more importantly, the jury didn’t buy it. Let’s hope God is more understanding when it comes to tax evasion.
