In order to plead fraud in most jurisdictions, the fraud must be set forth in the pleadings with particularity. Generally, conclusory allegations will not get through the pleading stage. Sloppy court systems may allow discovery to be conducted on conclusory allegations but that now seems to be the exception rather than the rule. If money was improperly taken, then the amounts, dates, persons and means should be set forth specifically. Rumors will not typically get it done. Many churches, especially small and larger independent ones, will tend toward loose financial practices even in the absence of culpable impropriety that does not amount to fraud. A broken promise is by itself not a fraud. “Scheming” is both legal and illegal so by itself amounts to nothing in legal terms.

In Ambellu v Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Memorandum Opinion (D DC, 2019), the federal trial court dismissed the lawsuit because the allegation requirements of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) were not met. As a practical matter, RICO cases are very difficult to pursue because the allegation and proof standards are not easily met. RICO was designed to address organized crime, not church splits and not the occasional defalcation. Likely, the Plaintiffs in this case were trying to engage federal court jurisdiction by using a federal statute like RICO because of some perceived advantage not thought to be available in the DC Superior Court. Federal judges are not typically willing to tolerate loose pleading practices that might escape the notice of less well funded and understaffed state court systems. The Plaintiffs, indeed, alleged the Defendants publicly proclaimed their intention to take over the church in community radio broadcasts. Actions out in the open are usually harder to qualify as fraud because fraud usually only succeeds because some or all of the actions are “done in a corner.” Even a fraudulent act or series of acts in a local church will not likely threaten no future criminal conduct or enterprise as required to make a RICO claim. The allegation that church board elections were not conducted might be addressed pursuant to the non-profit corporations statute. But, as a state level legal issue, the federal court cannot be forced to consider it if there is no basis for federal court jurisdiction. That the Plaintiffs were seeking money damages via RICO but not reinstatement of the former church board was specifically noted by the Court. The Court also noted that the right to be a member and to worship at a church is an ecclesiastical issue. The Court also noted that mere financial questions, how the church spent its money, are also ecclesiastical.

If a church split must spill out into the street and into a court, the most likely allegation that will survive, absent actual fraud that can be proven from the start or breach of contract, is that the ownership and control of the property of the church has been brought into question by a violation of the bylaws or the non-profit corporation statute. Both can usually be addressed by application of neutral principles and not run afoul of the Ecclesiastical Abstention Doctrine. Indeed, church board members probably have a fiduciary duty to the church corporation that can be enforced. To guard against such problems, a clear set of bylaws should be adopted and preserved.

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