Your money's not in Kansas anymore: S.F. fraudster cons Wichita church

December 7, 5:02 PMSF Financial Fraud ExaminerPaul Springer

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Fraud is fraud, but it seems worse when a chiseler uses a church or other social group to work the con.  San Francisco resident David Burkholder used a variety of fraudulent pretexts to convince his parents to raise $548,000 from members of their McPherson, Kansas church, according to the Wichita Attorney General's office.

Burkholder manipulated his parents into canvassing for cash with a variety to pretexts, includingbogus claims that he wanted to donate money to the family of a business associate killed by a tsunami and that he had to pay a $100,000 contract termination fee to former star Barbara Streisand.

Burkholder was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to 24 counts of fraud.  He also agreed to repay victims.

In an unrelated but equally damning incident, a Dallas man was extradited to Connecticut last month and convicted of larceny. According to The Register Citizen, John Eseppi served four years for running a Ponzi scheme on churchgoers and later continuing his fraudulent career after his release by actions including posing as a hedge fund manager.

Photo courtesy of Bay Area photographer Steve Kesten.