Nuwaubian Leader Earned Fat Income While Followers Worked Free

Associated Press/January 20, 2004

Brunswick, Ga. -- Cult leader Malachi York earned more than $850,000 from 1996 to 2001, while hundreds of his followers worked for free on York's Egyptian-style compound in rural Georgia.

York's accountant showed copies of federal tax returns filed by the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors leader as York's child molestation and racketeering trial entered its third week in U.S. District Court in Brunswick.

York's returns were shown to the jury as part of his defense to show York had been paying federal income taxes.

In addition to molesting children, prosecutors say, York illegally tried to conceal his finances by evading reporting requirements for large bank deposits.

Tax returns from 1996 to 2001 showed York grossed $5.9 million from his quasi-religious ministries, bookstores and three rental properties in Atlanta, Macon, and in Philadelphia.

York faces 13 federal counts of child molestation and racketeering. Prosecutors have had 13 witnesses testify that York molested them, while five alleged victims have testified the assaults never happened.