Mary Cosby filed a lawsuit against the people who operate her church’s for-profit business.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star and her husband are suing “two executives of their church’s business arm, accusing them of embezzling millions of dollars from the company and the church for years,” according to reports from the Salt Lake City Tribune.
The lawsuit identifies Robert Cosby as Faith Temple’s bishop and president, and Mary Cosby as the church’s vice president, first lady and evangelist.
Legal deets:
“Mary and Robert Cosby and their Faith Temple Pentecostal Church filed a lawsuit Wednesday.” Their complaint is against United Security Financial Inc. and two of its officers, Annie L. Johnson and Shawn Turner.”
Damages total nearly $6.3 million dollars.
“In the complaint, the Cosbys and Faith Temple accuse Johnson, USF’s president, and Turner, the company’s secretary, of intimidating USF employees.” They even forged Robert’s signature and used church funds for personal use.
Defendant Annie Johnson:
Accused in the complaint of “comingling” funds, Annie used a Faith Temple account to fund a USF mortgage on a property her husband sold to his cousin. “That mortgage, for $173,000, was never repaid to Faith Temple. The complaint says total payoff, with interest, amounted to $421,912.40.”
Another accusation is that Annie abused USF employees and Faith Temple representatives “with intimidation, threats, verbal abuse, racial degradation, and physical abuse.” The lawsuit claims at least $350,000 was taken that way, in what the complaint calls “a form of money laundering.”
Find out more about the accusations about Annie.
Defendant Shawn Turner:
Shawn owned a USF account that was ‘used for personal gain.’ The lawsuit says $126,611.10 was paid after the Cosbys believed the loan was paid off.” Mary and Robert didn’t learn of the second mortgage until last December, the complaint says.
The grossest of the gross:
Among the crimes rooted in greed, Annie is accused of funneling “sacred tithes and offerings” from churchgoers to herself. She used the community’s church donations to pay her “American Express bill and other personal expenses.”
