Federal authorities say a minister borrowed nearly $500,000 from a Florida-based mission group to build a new church in Indianapolis but spent part of the money on luxury items for himself instead.
The Rev. Wayne Taft Harris Jr. was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis this afternoon to face charges of wire fraud.
But after Harris didn’t show up, court officials learned there had been a miscommunication in Houston, Tex., where Harris had turned himself in earlier this month and posted $25,000 bond. A magistrate judge reset the initial hearing for Aug. 3.