Answering a higher calling is important, but only if it’s coming from above, not from a crypto wallet. That said, Denver pastor Eli Regalado and his wife scammed their followers out of $3.4 million through their cryptocurrency named INDXcoin, which state regulators describe as “essentially worthless.” According to the indictment, Regalado claims the scheme had so-called divine approval, stating: “The Lord brought this cryptocurrency to me.”
Now, Regalado and his wife have been hit with 40 felony charges, “including racketeering, theft and securities fraud,” according to the Denver Gazette. They tricked hundreds of people into investing in INDXcoin, promising “exorbitant” returns while the currency held literally “zero value.” While the two might have been clever enough to get rich off this religious-themed scheme, they weren’t smart enough to make it into anything bigger and allegedly spent very little on expanding or investing. Instead, $1.3 million ended up being “used for their own personal benefit,” likely luxury purchases and lifestyle expenses.
While the ‘godly’ pastor and his wife were ironically devilish to conduct such an atrocious scam on innocent believers, online users can’t help but wonder if they’re missing out on getting rich if they too were a bit more immoral. “If I was an evil person with no morals, I would immediately go become rich by scamming and taking advantage of deeply religious conservative idiots,” remarks a Reddit user. They continue, saying how they’re almost jealous of how the minister’s lack of humanity let him make such a lucrative profit, whereas for them, “the one and only thing holding me back is my moral compass.”
Hundreds of others agreed with upvotes and echoed similar responses. “Sometimes I wish I was born a sociopath [too], because I’d be a multi-millionaire or billionaire if I was,” jokes another. One person noted that it is so sad how easily religious people are tricked and ripped off. “Years of blind belief and no critical thinking will do that I guess 🤷,” they conclude. This is not the first time a pastor has tried to cash in on crypto. Back in January, a Detroit preacher praised his crypto coin after Trump’s inauguration. No doubt, plenty more victims have fallen prey to religious leaders trying to empty their congregation’s wallets, all in the name of God.
In the end, hundreds of people lost their hard-earned money to the Denver pastor’s scam. But with felony charges now placed on the couple, some might say: God truly does work in mysterious ways.
