State wants $2615 from Barry Minkow

San Diego's most famous (or infamous) man of the cloth owes the state $2615, according to a report from the Franchise Tax Board. His address is listed as 1 Federal Way in Atwater, California. That is Atwater High, a high-security federal penitentiary that also has a minimum-security satellite camp.

Minkow, 51, owes more than $600 million as a result of his crimes, so the state may have to wait.  He has a most interesting past: he pulled a huge Ponzi scheme that started when he was in high school. He got caught and was sentenced to 25 years. But he claimed he found God ("born again until out again"), was sprung from the big house, and was named pastor of San Diego Community Bible Church in 1997.

He formed the Fraud Discovery Institute on church property. He would discover corporate frauds, publicize them, and bet the stock would go down. Actually, he did some very good reports. According to Fortune magazine, he got paid off sub rosa by some of these companies.

But he took on the big builder, Lennar Corp. His so-called revelations sent the stock plunging. Minkow was tried and convicted of fraud. Also, he defrauded the church through such tricks as forging signatures on church checks, using church funds for his own activities, and other transgressions. He also fleeced some of the parishioners. He gets out June 6, 2019.