Catholic priests, Fr. Marcial Maciel -- the "efficacious guide to youth," founder and beloved patriarch of the Legionaries of Christ and sexual predator -- Bernie Madoff and others have employed "affinity fraud" to prey on those in a similar religious or ethnic class, as I've previously written.
Today the Securities and Exchange Commission charged a purported money manager, his New York City-based investment company, and two of his associates with conducting an affinity fraud and Ponzi scheme that specifically targeted investors living in the Caribbean and African-American communities of Brooklyn.
Affinity fraud is real and its dangerous. Be alert.