♪ let's drive tonight zirjts tonight on a special edition of "nightline." stolen faith. the hunt for efrin taylor. >> the preacher's son hails a a financial wizard for parishioners and america's top mega church. >> they gave him millions. where did all the money go? tonight investors across america demanding their money back. >> that was where the kiosk came out of. >> taylor and his wife turn their backs. >> you guys running from everybody? >> until now.

>> the families feel you cheated them. >> we tracked them down for an investigation nearly two years in the making. >> there's a lot of people trying to reach you. first the "nightline" five.

captions paid for by abc, inc. >> good evening.

just hours ago ae culmination to a saga that crosses piety and prosperity. the son of a pastor who told parishioners at some of america's most prominent mega churches that he could make them rich and please god in the process. they believed, and they gave him millions. late today two years after "nightline" started investigating, an arrest. here's abc's steve. >> reporter: the pastor was eddie long. >> good morning. >> reporter: at the time one of the most powerful black preachers in america. >> your life is about to change. >> reporter: six years ago he introduced his mega church to this man. >> put your hands together to receive my friend, my brother, the great ephron taylor. >> reporter: life did change. ephron taylor was a self-proclaimed millionaire only in his 20s and a preacher's son who spoke the language of the church. to these families he was a financial whiz kid. >> we're going to show you how

to get wealth and use it for the building of his kingdom. ♪ >> reporter: it was all part of what he called his wealth tour. sermons about self-improvement and financial pitching later in private. security officials now say these families were victims of a ponzi scheme that reached into churches across the country from eddie long's in atlanta to joel olsteen's. he preached self-improvement and shared stories of his success as a young black man on shows like "montel williams." >> i created my own internet company and made three-quarters of a million yon dollars on itunes. >> reporter: even here on abc. >> where do you see yourself in ten years? >> probably a minister in somebody's congregation. >> reporter: when he spoke to church goers, his words resonated. >> you are here, and god has -- >> he sounded like a godly

person to you? >> he did. he quoted scriptures. >> reporter: lillian said she >> your your tirmt, and it's gone? >> it's gone. >> you're blessed, positives

perrous. >> reporter: in houston, texas, at the mega church of pastor joel olsteen the flock was introduced to taylor when according to the church he was invited to speak to a small classroom group about biblical financial principles. >> that was where the kiosk came out of? >> reporter: barry and anita were there and later invested $1.3 million, their life savings and her mother's retirement. they thought they were investing in an inner city laundromat, a juice bar, a gas station. >> were you spending money on things that existed or that were imaginary? >> some existed. some didn't. >> reporter: attorney cathy says hundreds of investors told her the same story. >> i cannot tell you how many people have said to me i bought it only once. >> reporter: one thing taylor was apparently investing in is his wife michelle's music career. in 2009 taylor credits himself as executive producer and hot

male model. we tell him to stick to his day job, but we're not sure what that is. maybe you know this one. ♪ i'm sexy ♪ pay attention >> reporter: the government says taylor paid for the studio time for his wife's music career with the money that came pouring in, and there he is again making a cameo. all together now. snoets i'm about the billionaire and i don't care and i don't care and i don't care ♪ >> reporter: the complete version is available on itunes. in august of 2011 we started looking for taylor. first at the headquarters he listed for his business. the address led to a post office box inside this mail store. lisa conway worked for taylor in 2010. she saw yet another investment his company was pitching. >> i would see things that weren't -- >> like what? >> i had caught them trying to manipulate paperwork. >> it sounds like you don't

believe any of this stuff existed? >> because i know so much. >> we had folks -- >> reporter: soon she said panicked families were banging down the doors of this office where she and taylor worked. >> there's got to be fear on his part that this is all coming down? >> yeah. yes. you could see him sweat. >> how many of you want to get paid? raise your hand and give praise if you want to get paid. >> reporter: over here lillian wells would like to get paid, but she says that even after asking the church for help, she collected nothing. >> what is the first thing the bishop said to you? >> well, he came in, and he said basically church ain't got no money. >> reporter: lillian no longer attends bishop long's church. she says she was forced to file bankruptcy september 2012. >> my name is -- >> reporter: from minister yid long, he claimed that he and his church did nothing wrong. in 2011 long released this video pleading with taylor to return the money. >> please, do what's right.

>> reporter: even people who have known taylor since the day back when he was just starting out say they don't know where he or most of the money has gone. >> we were young and ambitious guys, and i liked that about him. >> reporter: christopher says he met taylor when they were both 19 and they briefly sold vending machines together. he claims they even invested $26,000 of his own money with taylor, but what bothers christopher most is he convinced his own father to give taylor $75,000. he says neither of them got more than a fraction back. >> it cost me a big lesson, but i'm not going to get it back. smashing in his face really isn't going to help me. >> reporter: in may of 2012 we heard from an attorney representing taylor who said taylor is not in hiding and has stayed out of the polt because of concerns for his safety. he said taylor unekwifically denies that he looted investor proceeds to fund an extravagant

lifestyle. then "nightline" got a tip. someone had located ephron taylor and his bride. we went on the hunt. >> go, go, go, go. >> reporter: when we come back -- watch how one sheet of new bounty keeps working, while their two sheets just quit. new bounty. the no-quit picker-upper. ♪ from the bounty factory in northern utah... to a walmart near you. join walmart and bounty in supporting american jobs. you've reached the age where you know how things work.

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we're back with a special edition of "nightline." ephron taylor was the son of a preacher who told believers he could revolutionize their finances, but then it all went very wrong, so what would he say

when "nightline" caught up with him and his wife? here's abc's -- again. >> reporter: there was this ephron taylor. the man in the music video celebrating the high life starring his wife. ♪ i do what i want ♪ i move like a billionaire rirjts then lfs this ephron taylor. >> i tell you, are you broke? you can't make no money. >> reporter: who preached faith-based investing to churches across the country. >> you want to get paid this morning? somebody raise their hand and give god the praise if you want to get paid this morning. >> reporter: he was charged with the fcc by running what they call a ponzi scheme saying he preyed on those church goers who gave them their trust and more than $11 million. >> suddenly the whole thing went upside down. >> reporter: back then the fcc told us they couldn't find him. his attorney told us he was just staying out of the spotlight. hmm. well, we got a curious tip.

if we really wanted to talk to the taylors, we might want to look in linexa, kansas. specifically at a shop called panacea massage. >> there was always a lot of comment about in the past having had lots of money. >> reporter: two years ago in the fall a massage therapist rented a room. she went by the name liz taylor. no, not that liz taylor. though she did seem to share the late actress's love of bling. >> she would also make comments about how my purse was cheap, and he was used to the good purse. i got the point that she was very depressed about her current lifestyle. >> reporter: she says her husband also talked about his previous career and lost fortune. her husband, ephron taylor. >> he is really smart, quoting her, and he is really in

investments, and he is a consultant. i said what happened to all the money? well, you know, the market went bad, and the same old answer to every question everybody has money. >> they like to whisper all the time. even if you're standing right next to them, they whisper in each other's ears. they can't look you in the eye. they don't acknowledge you're standing in the room with them. >> reporter: one day anna says ephron was sitting at the front desk, and she says he seemed nervous. >> he was just sitting at the desk on the computer. i don't know what he was doing, but he was sitting there, and i went to grab a piece of scotch paper, and he backed up so far away from me so far that he hit the desk. >> pam decided to install security cameras. he says ephron took moat. >> one of the comments that i was told he said, hey, look, heavy cameras. be careful what you said because there's audio and night vision. it was, like, well, what's going on? >> reporter: this was when the salon ladies turned into amateur

sleuths. >> she had me look at liz's licenses. i said her license is michel. >> the recording artist? >> she googled it, and then the whole can of worms opened up. >> reporter: they even found our abc news "nightline" story which they viewed on-line. >> then it was the whole scam thing that surfaced on the internet. that's how it all came together. it was all within a matter of 20, 30 minutes. then we all went ah. i was, like, oh, my god. we had no idea. >> reporter: apparently while all those investors wondered where he was, ephron taylor was spending his days in a suburban day spa. salon ladies made the connection and contacted one of our sources and called "mightline." a lot of people may have said, you know what, let's just wash your hands of these people, let them go. >> oh, absolutely not. >> if you are so quick to take

someone's money and just leave them high and dry you are capable of anything. >> reporter: our source told "nightline" about the activities in kansas, and sure enough we caught up with them at an apartment complex. >> what do you say to all those families that say you cheated them? can you give them an answer? those families that say they took their money? sir? anything to say to all of those families? what about the money that the courts are ordering you to pay those families? do you plan to pay them back? there's a lot of people who are hoping to hear from you. do you have any response? anything for those people? there's a lot of people trying to reach you.

>> reporter: an hour later as if nothing happened taylor's wife shows up for work. >> is your husband here? >> i'm with you. i'm with you. >> you guys running from everybody? >> what do you say to the court and all of that money that the court is asking you guys to pay back? the families feel that you have cheated them.li0=9ómó do you have anything to say to those people who say that they think that you have taken money from them? do you have anything to say to those families at all? >> reporter: her reaction was one of the strangest we had ever seen. like she was walking the runway at a surreal fashion show. >> reporter: do you have anything to say at all? do you and your husband plan to go somewhere else after this?

not a word. >> reporter: that is until today. when we come back, what happened just hours ago that has some of taylor's investors jumping up and down. >> they are joyful. they are grateful. some of them still just can't believe it happened. >> this special edition of "nightline" is brought to you by nissan. ♪ ♪ yeah ♪ don't stop now, come on mony ♪ come on, yeah ♪ i say yeah ♪ yeah ♪ yeah ♪ yeah ♪ yeah ♪ yeah ♪ yeah ♪ 'cause you make me feel ♪ like a pony ♪ so good ♪ like a pony ♪ so good ♪ like a pony [ male announcer ] the sentra with bose audio and nissanconnect technology. spread your joy. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪ mony mony

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sflimplts we're back with more of our special edition of "nightline." after losing their money and their faith, the investors who say ephron taylor cheated them out of mill wronz are jumping for joy tonight. here again, steve. >> what do you say to all those families that say that they cheated them? >> it's been nearly a year that we last saw ephron taylor talking to abc news about accusations that he swindled his brothers and sisters of the church out of millions. >> you want to get paid this morning? >> reporter: today the prayers of his clients were finally answered as only hours ago he turned himself into authorities

on various counts of fraud charges that only cover a fraction of what the sec and other government agencies claim he swindled from investors. taylor's lawyer had this to say about his client's arrest today. mr. taylor voluntarily surrendered to law enforcement immediately upon learning of the indictment and he is anxious to address the pending charges. cathy lerman, an attorney representing some of the alleged victims, was overjoyed by taylor's arrest, and that's putting it mildly. >> other than the birth of my two children, this is one of the happiest days of my life. this day means a lot to me. it means even more to my clients who are the victims. it is answers to prayers that justice be done. >> reporter: it has always been our prayer for a resolution to this matter in which many lost their investments. our hearts go out to anyone who suffered losses and we pray for

healing. taerl's told attorney abc news that taylor was released tonight on his own reconnaissance. ms. lerman wishes that weren't so. >> i believe he is a flight risk. i don't believe ephron taylor ever intends to answer to anyone for any of the evil that he has done if he can get away with it. >> reporter: but tonight his alleged victims are taking solis in the hope that he will soon be answering to a higher power. >> are you here, in god's house this morning. >> reporter: for nightline, in miami. >> an extraordinary story reaching a cli maximum of sorts tonight. our thanks for his reporting this past few wreerz. we want to thank you as well for watching abc muse tonight. world news now is coming up with the overnight breaking news. tune in to gma in the morning, and we're on-line 24-7 at abc news.com. thaur again for watching. news.com. thaur again for watching. good night. captions by vitac

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