WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (ABP) — A lawsuit filed against First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach claims the church defrauded a mentally ill woman out of her $1.8 million inheritance.
Lucinda Bennett, 34, attended First Baptist Church from 1998 to 2001, according to legal documents, and inherited $1.8 million when her great-grandmother died in 2000.
Her father, David Bennett, is accusing the church, pastor Keith Thomas, the Florida Baptist Convention and Southern Baptist Convention of fraud, negligence and civil theft, according to the Sun-Sentinel newspaper. Bennett is seeking $5.4 million in damages, according to court documents.
Church representatives could not be reached immediately for comment.
Church members knew Lucinda Bennett had mental and emotional problems but hounded her “systematically, repeatedly and relentlessly” to contribute money to the church, said Orlando attorney Nathan Carter, who filed the lawsuit.
Carter said the pastor personally approached Bennett for money, and Bennett gave Thomas, his wife, and their four children each $10,000. Bennett reportedly later sold the $530,000 condominium she inherited and gave the proceeds to the church.
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