Woman Sentenced to Prison for Scamming Cedar Rapids Church

Scamming a church out of hundreds of thousands of dollars should earn you a punishment harsher than jail, but we'll let the man upstairs settle that score.

The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that a woman has been sentenced to four years in federal prison on multiple charges of money laundering and fraud that caused a Catholic church in Cedar Rapids to lose more than $400,000.

Which Cedar Rapids Church Got Scammed?

The Gazette reports that trial evidence showed that St. Ludmila Catholic Church in Cedar Rapids paid $466,000 to a shell corporation set up by 63-year-old Margo Williams of Scranton, Pennsylvania. The church sent the money after receiving a fraudulent email that appeared to be from the construction company the church had hired to help with a $7 million renovation project. Church representatives thought they were exchanging emails with their general contractor.

Instead, Williams reportedly laundered that money, along with cash from four other victims, for a total of $800,000.

The Scammer Claims SHE Was Scammed! 

During her trial, Williams did admit to laundering the money, according to the Gazette. But she claims that she did so under the instructions of a romance scammer. Williams claims that she started a relationship with this person online after he told her he was a famous British actor.

The Gazette reports that along with her four-year prison sentence, Williams has been ordered to pay $594,037.41 in restitution to her victims, including St. Ludmila Church. She'll also serve a three-year term of supervised release after she completes her prison term.

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