‘Christian’ Company Charged in Elder Fraud Scheme
Group allegedly stole $300K from World War II veteran
Five people have been arrested following allegations of an elder fraud scheme in which they stole $300,000 in retirement funds from a 92-year-old World War II veteran.
Photo by Apostolos Vamvouras / Unsplash / Creative Commons
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, authorities arrested Lenel Hopkins, 52, Antoinette Monique Hopkins, 42, Alichia Webster, 60, Neil John Halvorson, 65, and Victor Evans Jr., 70, in Alabama and Florida. They have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud.
The individuals allegedly carried out their fraud scheme by forming a company called Ternion Group International LLC, aka Ternion Training and Education Center Corporation. They claimed to be a global investment group and a Christian company that did construction projects and provided job training for believers.
According to the charges, they promised investors high returns and ownership in local development projects in exchange for large deposits made to Ternion.
Those who invested in the company would become known as “hubs” associated with Ternion. The “hubs” would be listed under a Ternion name, but would have the investors’ address as its physical location.
According to the indictment, investors never received anything in exchange for their payments, including a Houston man and World War II veteran who formed a hub with the group.
The Ternion owners told the man if he invested $300,000 in the company he would receive $13 million in return. The money was supposed to be used to build a vocational school and purchase 100 homes, according to the allegations. However, the property where the project was set to be conducted is privately owned and not for sale.
Victor Evans Jr., one of the five arrested, allegedly drew a salary from the money the victim transferred from his retirement account. Another member of the Ternion group, Neil John Halvorson, convinced the victim to enter into a new will giving Evans successor rights and power of attorney over his property (including his hub), bank accounts and contracts. Evans also became his medical power of attorney and used it to execute a do-not-resuscitate form for the victim.
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To date, the victim has not received any money in return for the $300,000 he invested, nor has he heard from anyone with Ternion since 2020, according to the charges.
The Ternion group will be arraigned in Houston, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Laurence prosecuting. If convicted, each member faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine for each count.
The case is part of the Elder Justice Initiative which combats elder abuse, neglect and financial fraud, and scams that target our nation’s older adults.
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