Brian Shane Haigler, a 43-year-old Mint Hill resident, has been hit with a 33-month prison stint, followed by two years of supervised release, for his involvement in a fraudulent investment scheme, embezzlement from his church, and exploiting COVID-19 relief funds, this news coming from an announcement by U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson for the Western District of North Carolina. “Haigler exploited friends, stole from his church, and defrauded a federal relief program meant to provide economic assistance during a national crisis,” Ferguson remarked regarding the need to curb such rampant fraud.
The scheme started around February 2019 when Haigler began to invite friends and acquaintances to invest in what he claimed were property deals, guaranteeing fixed returns by a certain time however instead of channeling the cash into actual real estate endeavors as he’d promised, Haigler had been funneling the majority into his own pockets and using new investment to pay earlier investors—a classic Ponzi setup. When these investors grew suspect and began demanding answers or their money back, Haigler responded with a web of lies designed to throw them off the scent.
It didn’t end with friend and investor deception; court documents reveal that, while acting as treasurer, Haigler embezzled over $389,000 from a church following the passing of its pastor in early 2019, ultimately penning checks directly to himself, one of which totaled $160,000, and then using most of those funds for investor payouts. In a further violation of trust and legal compliance, Haigler, in April 2021, deceitfully obtained a $311,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan from the SBA under the church’s name, funneling $300,000 of it into his personal bank account once the loan was deposited, reveals the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina…