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FLNA News: Margate church swindler sentenced to 20 years in prison
By Jon Burstein | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
November 20, 2008
The leaders of a Margate church put their trust in one of their flock, believing he was brokering a land deal with $1.67 million raised by the congregation.

It was a faith betrayed.

The money from the churchgoers at Abundant Life Christian Centre disappeared into the pockets of Christopher Salmonson, a man whom a veteran Broward County Click here for restaurant inspection reports sheriff's detective describes as a "consummate con man."

Salmonson, 42, was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison for swiping money that church officials had hoped to use to buy 10 acres next door for an expansion.



Salmonson's swindle tore the church apart, with more than 1,000 members of the 3,400-strong congregation leaving.

Bishop Rick Thomas said the stress from the scandal caused him to have a heart attack and his brother Eric, 59, a church official, to have a fatal heart attack.

Salmonson had been awaiting trial for more than six years for the scheme that authorities said dates to 1998, when church leaders delivered their first check to him.

"It's been horrendous," Thomas said. The church has paid $400,000 in legal fees alone, he said.

Salmonson pleaded no contest in September to 13 grand theft charges as part of a novel deal. If he could have come up with the $1.67 million by Wednesday, he could have withdrawn from the agreement and pleaded to misdemeanor charges that eventually would have been wiped from his record.

Salmonson is president and chief executive officer of a West Palm Beach company called Fuelnation Inc., which describes itself as "engaged in the worldwide marketing of crude oil, diesel and gasoline."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/news/margate/sfl-flbsalmonson1120sbnov20,0,5409990.story