Investigation of `$3 million heist' dries up

A police investigation into a possible $3 million cash robbery last year ends where it began, with no leads and plenty of questions.

The Tampa Tribune, August 16, 1999
By Michael Fechter

TAMPA - The guards were tied up, and one was bruised after being smacked by a baseball bat.

But when police responded to what may have been the city's largest robbery at Greater Ministries International July 14, 1996, they found little other evidence of a crime.

That night, a church official estimated as much as $500,000 could have been in the building. Somehow that ballooned to $3 million, a figure police attribute to ministries founder Gerald Payne.

A year and a month later, police have closed their investigation with lots of theories but little evidence.

``If you've got something you can follow, you follow it,'' said Detective Mike Mitchell. ``In this case, we never had anything solid other than speculation.''

Payne couldn't be reached for comment Thursday. But he didn't appear too concerned about the investigation, often failing to return telephone calls and not inquiring about its status since last summer, Mitchell said. Greater Ministries remains the target of a federal grand jury looking into mail fraud, money laundering and whether a gift program, Faith Promises, is a Ponzi scheme.

Earlier versions of the program, based on verses in the Bible, promised people double their money on ``gifts'' to the ministries.

A state effort to shut down the program as an unregistered security was struck down by an appeals court in February.

It's still not clear whether any money was in the church vault the night of the robbery.

Payne's wife, Betty, initially told investigators the organization sometimes kept as much as $500,000 on the property to pay clients but ``today they took the money home,'' according to a police report.

When asked about the money the next day, ``her husband corrected her, and she said no money was taken home,'' Mitchell wrote. ``She said in all the confusion she doesn't remember making that statement to the officer, that he lied.''

But her first story matched what one of the guards told police, too.

After being clubbed in the side with a baseball bat and tied up, guard Russell Cole said the robbers asked where the money was.

``Mr. Cole said that there wasn't any. The [suspect] said he didn't want to hurt them, but he knows there's money. Mr. Cole said that there normally is, but the bosses took it home with them,'' the police report said.

Cole and another guard said there were three suspects who posed as computer delivery workers. They drove up to church headquarters at 715 E. Bird St. around 11:30 p.m., appearing familiar with the building.

Guard William Sullivan told police he heard one suspect say, ``Michael said it was back here,'' and heard another suspect use a cellular telephone.

Detectives interviewed the Paynes' son, Michael Payne, the next day. He said the church sends out charity donations the 15th of each month, so whoever robbed the place the night of the 14th knew there would be money present.

Police said he initially agreed to a polygraph but changed his mind after being driven to the police station. His parents also declined to take the lie detector test. They promised an independent investigation and polygraph reports, police said, but never delivered those.

The Paynes each mentioned a former volunteer and her husband as suspects.

When police interviewed Jerrell Murrhee, he questioned whether there was a robbery and said he and his wife ``know a lot about what the church does with the gift donations, and the Paynes are scared of that fact.''

Earlier this year, Linda Murrhee showed The Tampa Tribune a subpoena she received to testify before a grand jury investigating Greater Ministries. She did not disclose what she discussed in her appearance June 1996.