His name is William Neil Gallagher and for many years he was known as the Money Doctor and considered a financial guru capable of advising a large part of his Christian audience. Although unfortunately his advice ended in a scam for victims between 62 and 91 years old to whom he promised considerable profits with little risk.
Gallagher robbed nearly 200 victims and amassed $ 32 million. To reach them, he promoted the services of his company, Gallagher Financial Group, in churches and through Christian radio, a medium that remains immensely popular in the United States, with more than 20 million listeners tune in each week. He also promoted his business on broadcasts, on books like Jesus Christ, Money Master and in “educational” investment seminars.
“Doc Gallagher is one of the worst criminals I have ever seen,” said Lori Varnell, chief of the Senior Financial Fraud unit at the Tarrant County, Texas, Criminal District Attorney, after the November 2021 sentencing against him. He was sentenced to three life sentences, added to 30 years in prison for his guilty pleas. For Varnell, this was the worst case of elder fraud he has seen in his entire career.
According to court documents, this scammer had been deceiving these people since 2013 through Ponzi schemes and promised an annual return of between 5% and 8% of their investment. Many of these victims were forced to sell their houses, borrow their children or even return to work after retirement. “These are people who worked their whole lives to save this money that they don’t have now. It comes at an emotional and psychological cost,” Varnell says.
Among the many people William Neil Gallagher took advantage of were a woman in her 70s suffering from lymphoma who invested more than half a million dollars, and several serving and retired local police officers. “I no longer trust anyone. Only God and my family,” another affected said in a statement issued by Tarrant County prosecutors. Another victim testified that “I’m afraid my money is going to run out. It’s very scary.”
Fraud or scam of the elderly is a very common practice in the United States. According to the FBI, these types of crimes are growing as millions of Americans are victims of fraud each year, racking up more than $ 3 billion in losses annually. Unfortunately for the victims, in cases that go to court, they are unlikely to get the money back. In Gallagher’s case, some of the money was spent, some was laundered, and the rest is still missing.
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