WALTHOURVILLE — A federal judge in Augusta has set a Sept. 23 arraignment for six of eight House of Prayer Christian Church leaders accused of fleecing their flock. Attorneys for all eight defendants have until Sept. 24 to respond to the government’s request to waive a speedy trial based on the volume of evidence in the case. Pastor Rony Denis and his assistant Anthony Oloans remain in federal custody.
The court had ordered attorneys for both sides “not [to] file their exhibit list and/or witness list on the record.” On Thursday, it gave the government 90 days to disclose its expert witnesses, while the defense has 60 days to do so. Pretrial motions are also due within six months.
Denis was charged Sept. 11 with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and aiding and assisting in filing a false tax return. His bond hearing was continued until Sept. 26 after Denis complained of feeling ill after five hours in court.
Oloans also remains in federal custody pending further court proceedings.
Five other defendants — Joseph Fryar, 51; Dennis Nostrant, 55; Gerard Robertson, 57; David Reip, 54; and Marcus Labat, 42, all of Hinesville — were released Sept. 11 on $50,000 non-cash bond with special conditions for their release.
In a different case, another church leader, Bernadel Junior Semexant, faces federal child sexual abuse charges. The FBI is asking victims or their parents to come forward.
Denis detention hearing continued
According to The Augusta Press, Homeland Security official Todd Cart testified that the real Rony Denis was an HIV-positive Haitian who fled by boat and sought asylum in Miami in October 1980. That was during the brutal dictatorship of Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier and the Mariel boatlift from Cuba. The real Denis was assigned an alien number and then a Social Security number. But in 1983, he reported his immigration papers had been stolen. He died in 1989.
Using Denis’ name, alien number, and birthday — which Cart said should have been vetted up front — the pastor joined the Army.
Executive assistant Anthony Oloans pleaded not guilty on three charges at his Thursday arraignnment, according to court records. Oloans is charged with bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud in the case charging several members of the church’s top leadership. Federal prosecutors alleged Oloans is a flight risk, citing what Oloans’ attorney called “unspecified concerns related to witness intimidation.” The judge ordered Oloans remain in custody.
‘Cleaning up the hooch’
Lead prosecutor Patricia Rhodes said the government would produce recordings about Oloans allegedly making daily reports and data drops by USB drive to a location called “the hooch,” including discussions about “cleaning up the hooch.”
Other recordings, she said, would include church members saying they were afraid to leave and alleging that Rony had instructed them on how to avoid the FBI.
According to The Augusta Press, Rhodes told the court that church members allegedly “were instructed to do exactly as Denis said, even if it included consuming unknown substances.”
Denis’ attorney, Steve Sadow, questioned inconsistencies in some of the identifying paperwork linked to the pastor.
Attorney: Oloans no flight risk
Oloans’ attorney, Scott R. Grubman, filed a response Tuesday opposing the government’s motion to keep the 54-year-old Army veteran and Hinesville resident in custody. That response stated in part, “Oloans has known that he was a target of a federal criminal investigation since at least the summer of 2022 when federal agents executed search warrants on the House of Prayer. In addition, Mr. Oloans has received several Civil Investigative Demands from the United States Attorney’s Office and has fully participated — through counsel — in a related civil matter.”
Instead, Grubman argued, Oloans should be released with conditions, such as surrendering his passport. He wrote that Oloans “has no family, friends, assets, or any other resources in any other country. He has lived in Hinesville for nearly 25 years. With the exception of a sister with whom he has seldom interaction, Mr. Oloans’ entire family — including his wife, his adult stepson, and his daughter-in-law — live with him in Hinesville. He has no criminal history and served honorably in the United States Army.”
He also noted that Oloans “has been fully aware of his target status since the summer of 2022” yet “stayed put during this nearly three-and-a-half-year period” while cooperating in the civil case, and that Oloans had not been charged with obstruction and could be tracked by electronic monitoring.
Grubman suggested that the court could grant Oloans $50,000 bond with a $5,000 cash deposit.
Forbidden to travel or create new accounts
Court records show that at least one of those defendants, volunteer minister Fryar, was ordered to find a job, not to use more than one bank account, and not to open any new credit lines.
Additional financial restrictions prevent Fryar from working “in any position of public or private trust” and to “inform any employer or potential employer of the pending charges if directed to do so by the supervising officer.”
For any business or employment relationship, Fryar must disclose the fact that he’s been federally indicted “and the specific nature of the allegations.”
He also is not allowed to work or volunteer “in any fiduciary capacity or any position allowing access to credit or personal information of others” without the U.S. Probation Office’s approval and the employer or organization being “fully aware” of Fryar’s charges or pending charges.
Fryar’s bond also includes travel restrictions: surrendering his passport and not traveling outside the U.S. Southern District of Georgia. It also requires Fryar to report to a supervising officer; not to contact any codefendants unless an attorney arranges and is present for such a meeting; to avoid excessive drinking and any narcotics; not to “possess a firearm, destructive device, or other weapon”; submit to drug testing and location monitoring; and to report all contact with law enforcement. It also orders a home curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Fryar’s attorney filed various motions for access to evidence in his case.
In the U.S. Middle District Court of Florida, Omar Garcia, 40, of Palm Bay, Fla., was released. On Tuesday, Garcia surrendered his passport; his travel is restricted to the continental United States.
Church member brings illegal recording device into federal court
At the Sept. 11 hearing, a group of HOPCC members reportedly acted as if they were unfamiliar with federal courtroom protocol.
According to the Augusta Press, one church member admitted under oath that “he had a recording device that looked like a pen in his shirt pocket.” Federal courts generally do not allow anyone, including members of the press, to record or broadcast court proceedings, except in rare and narrowly limited circumstances.
The Augusta Press also reported that three church members “had taken seats where defendants’ defense attorneys typically sit,” as opposed to the public seating area. Under oath, one man “denied they told court officials they were with a law firm, but instead were ‘staff’ of the defendant.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian K. Epps said the group was “lucky to be going home.”
Court cases can take years to come to trial, and this case is likely to take longer than usual because of the mountains of evidence, depositions, and transcripts that both the defense and prosecution will need to comb through. That workload prompted prosecutors to ask the court to waive the usual speedy trial requirements.
The case is United States of America v. FNU LNU AKA Rory Denis et al., 1:25-CR-62.
2022 complaint alleged HOPCC preyed on veterans for money
In 2022, a letter from Veterans Education Success to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Georgia Department of Veterans Services alleged the nonprofit’s attorney had interviewed several people who described the church as “more of a cult” and who said they had been taken advantage of financially. The group requested “a target risk-based review” of HOPCC.
The church says that its headquarters is in Hinesville; however, Liberty County property and tax records show the church complex is located within the city limits of Walthourville. Those records also show HOPCC owns several residential properties in Hinesville, and many church members live in Hinesville, as well.
Through its five seminaries and 12 churches, “11 of which are near military bases,” the letter reads in part, 14 former members and one then-current member alleged “that HOPCC deceives VA during inspections and targets veterans in order to to access GI Bill funding, VA disability compensation,and VA home loans….Generally, they allege that HOPCC is lying to VA during inspections, defrauding veterans by keeping students enrolled perpetually without providing them with marketable training, and providing them with no actual education. They also claim HOPCC is coaching veterans applying for VA disability so they will receive 100% ratings and pressuring them into paying their disability compensation to HOPCC through tithes. They also allege that HOPCC is engaged in other criminal activity, such as mortgage fraud, and that it is essentially an illegitimate religious organization.”
Bible college students allegedly were sent to wash church leaders’ cars or work on construction projects, which was reported to the VA as “church study.” Other alleged falsifications of class attendance included time when students were recruiting or in church, or that they were present on days when they were not.
In addition, an unnamed student at the Bible college alleged the school “would tell VA inspectors that classes were being taught in buildings other than where they were actually being taught in order to mislead VA.”
According to the VES letter, two other students from the seminary, which was approved to receive GI Bill funding, would televise classes to other school locations that were not approved, then count all the remote students as having been present in the “Hinesville” location.
In addition, the letter alleges HOPCC charged GI Bill recipients significantly more than their civilian classmates.
Florida corporation
A check of Florida business registrations shows House of Prayer Christian Churches of America, Inc. uses the Hinesville address in the city limits of Walthourville, that the corporation was formed in Louisiana, and lists the same Hinesville post office box for its corporate officers: CEO/President/Director Gerard Robinson; CFO/Director William Pilkington; and Secretary/Director Marcus Labat. The corporation has been registered in Florida since 2006.
If you have information about HOPCC’s activities in and around Liberty County, contact our reporter, Robin Kemp, on Signal or e-mail her at robin.kemp@thecurrentga.org . See other ways to send us a confidential tip.