Indianapolis church, swindled out of $400,000, faces uncertain future

Hrond Arman Gasparian presented himself to Bell's Chapel Church leaders as a man of God.

He said he wanted to use his financial expertise to help the church get the money to rebuild after a fire the year before.

He promised that with his help, the church would continue to serve the Northeastside community that so heavily relied on its positive influence.

Now, five years later, Gasparian has left the church $400,000 poorer and facing foreclosure with a shrinking congregation.

"Mr. Gasparian said to me, 'I'm committed to God to do this project.' And that's what really bothered me. On more than one occasion he said he was committed to God," said Bishop Adrienne Holmes of Bell's Chapel. "The Bible says, 'Will a man rob God?' The answer is yes because Mr. Gasparian robbed God. But he not only robbed God. He robbed this community.

"Now, I just need somebody to help us."

Earlier this month, Gasparian, 67, Fishers, was convicted of 10 counts of wire fraud after a three-day jury trial before U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker. He was accused of swindling Bell's Chapel out of $400,000 and two local business operators out of $225,000.

Court documents state that Gasparian presented himself as a loan broker who could secure funding for businesses and nonprofit organizations.

Bell's Chapel Church officials were looking to build a new church and daycare at the corner of 42nd Street and North Mitthoeffer Road. The church was destroyed in a November 2008 fire that went unsolved, Holmes said.

Gasparian told members looking to rebuild the church that he would be able to secure them a $3 million grant but would first need $365,000 for earnest money and a $35,000 nonrefundable fee to broker the deal.

"We searched ... we couldn't find anything negative about him," Holmes said. "After we met with him we prayed, and we just gave him our money."

Gasparian told church officials he would put the money in an escrow account and the refundable portion would be returned upon securing the grant. He instead spent the $400,000, never securing the grant to Bell's Chapel and never refunding the money.

Holmes said Gasparian assured her that after 90 days the church would have the money needed to pay for the construction that already was underway.

"After 90 days he hadn't returned our money. So I contacted him after 90 days, and then he said it would be two weeks," Holmes said. "After two weeks he said it would be six weeks. After six weeks he said the money was tired up in the Cayman Islands. After two months, the contractor left the project. ... Everything just halted."

With no money to pay for the project, Holmes was left with an empty plot of land littered with the half erected steel that was intended to be the framework for the rebuilt Bell's Chapel.

The theft also broke the spirit of the congregation.

Holmes said at its peak before the fire, Bell's Chapel was 175 members strong. Today, the congregation is down to just 30.

"It's been really difficult on the church. A lot of the members have left because they lost faith," Holmes said. "Because of the storm that I'm in it's been really hard for me to maintain my faith. But I just believe that God is going to bring us out victorious."

After coming to grips with Gasparian's deception, Holmes contacted the police.

"I wanted him caught," she said. "I wanted him to get convicted and to be sentenced so he would be off the street."

Gasparian faces up to 20 years in federal prison and fines of up to $250,000 for each of the 10 counts of his conviction.

Although Holmes is glad that Gasparian was brought to justice, his conviction and pending sentence do not bring back the church's nearly $500,000. Holmes said the bank forced church leaders to put the property up for sale, and they have until December before the property goes into foreclosure.

Since the start of the ordeal, Holmes said the congregation has been meeting at Abounding Grace Church at 62nd Street and Sunnyside Road. The space has been adequate, but Holmes said the location is too far from the neighborhood the church has been serving since 1925.

Over the years, the church has given away food and clothes. It has provided low-cost and free day care. It has even given away free gas from the gas station across the street.

The thought of Bell's Chapel no longer having a presence in the neighborhood along 42nd Street is too much for resident Earl Bullitt to bear.

Bullitt said he grew up across the street from the church and has been attending since he was 8 years old. Now 21, Bullitt credits the church and Holmes for making him the man he is today.

"Bishop Holmes always opened the church to us, and we were so blessed because of it. She never charged us to come by or play basketball. It had a big impact in my life," he said. "I remember she would take 24 to 30 kids off the street and teach them skills around the house, like how to cut grass and paint and spray weeds. It taught us responsibility and kept us out of trouble.

"Whenever negativity came knocking on the doors, Bell's Chapel made sure we always had an alternative or an outlet."

Call Star reporter Justin L. Mack at (317) 444-6138. Follow him on Twitter: @justinlmack.

Donations

Anyone wishing to make a donation to Bell's Chapel Church is asked to call Bishop Adrienne Holmes at (317) 657-7000. Donations also can be made in the name of Bell's Chapel at any Old National Bank location.