DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A DeKalb County church has been empty for more than a year, and a local man said the church owes him millions of dollars but refuses to pay.
Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray learned both the local small businessperson and the church congregation are in tough spots.
The pastor of the church told Gray he just wants to move on and find a new home for his congregation.
But the local business owner said that before that happens, they have to repay him $2.5 million, which he said already cost him his business.
“Do you believe you owe this man $2.5 million?” Gray asked Quincy Lavelle Carswell II, Pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in DeKalb County.
“No, sir,” Carswell said.
What nobody disputes in this case is that more than $2.5 million from Jesse LeBlanc and Exigo Management was used to pay off Covenant’s mortgage and should not have.
“Back in the day, we would always hear finders keepers, losers weepers. Unfortunately, that’s not what the law says,” said LeBlanc, CEO and founder of Exigo Management.
This all started when Covenant Baptist Church decided to sell the church building last year.
“The church building had a lot of issues,” Carswell told Gray.
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M. Entertainment agreed to buy the church for $8 million.
Enter LeBlanc to provide temporary short-term funding - $2,534,246.25, including his fee - to fund the deal so it would go through.
He was supposed to be paid back his money as soon as the church was sold. But it never sold.
“I’m like, well, something’s wrong here,” LeBlanc said.
Carswell said he walked away from the deal when he saw the extra lender, Exigo Management, on the paperwork at closing.
“He did not even know who this guy was until after he had sent this money to the closing attorney,” said Zenobia Waters, Covenant Baptist Church’s attorney.
But instead of returning Exigo and LeBlanc’s money, the closing attorney wired it to pay off the church’s mortgage to PrinsBank -- the exact same amount of money that LeBlanc lent.
“It should never, ever, ever, ever be touched until the property is closed out,” LeBlanc said.
That was more than a year ago, and LeBlanc has still not been able to get his money back from the bank, the church, or the closing attorney.
He’s been forced to sell off assets and close his business.
“Two times I’ve almost killed myself. I, being a former police officer, I had to hide my guns because I know I needed those extra few seconds,” LeBlanc said.
LeBlanc filed a lawsuit against Covenant Baptist Church.
In April, Channel 2 Action News was in court for a hearing in the case.
The judge ruled in LeBlanc’s favor, writing: “The money was not intended as a gift. Covenant refused to repay the money or arrange for repayment of the money. Accordingly, the undisputed evidence supports a judgment in favor of Exigo and against Covenant in the amount of $2,509.125.”
But Carswell has filed his own lawsuit demanding the same amount in damages -- $2.5 million for defamation against LeBlanc.
His attorney argued in court that it’s LeBlanc’s fault he’s out the money.
“Their failure to just exercise slight due diligence caused the situation to spiral out of control,” said Zenobia Waters, Covenant’s attorney.
Carswell did tell Gray in his interview that he acknowledges the $2.5 million needs to be paid back.
“I would like for the lender to receive whatever he put in,” Carswell said.
But in court, the church’s countersuit continues, and they’ve appealed the judge’s ruling.
Gray asked Covenant’s attorney what happens now.
“How do we just end this and move on?” Gray asked.
“Great question. Why don’t we just get the property sold?” Waters said.
“But we’ve tried this multiple times, and unfortunately, they still absolutely refuse to believe that they owe us any money,” LeBlanc said.
There are a lot of questions for the closing attorney, too.
The church’s attorney blames her. LeBlanc is also suing her.
Her attorney argued in court that she had tried to stop the wire of the money to the bank when the closing did not happen.
We reached out for comment, and her attorney referred us to the court filing that denies the allegations and countersues for defamation.
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