Pastor pleads guilty to tax, COVID loan fraud while leading two Charlotte churches
As a man of the cloth, Frank Jacobs was expected to render to God what was God’s.
On Wednesday, however, it was Caesar’s turn, with the Charlotte pastor admitting in federal court that he failed to file income tax returns while also bilking a COVID-19 relief program out of a $52,000 loan with a phony application filed on behalf of one of his churches.
Jacobs, 51, pleaded guilty to filing a fraudulent tax return and wire fraud in a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Cayer of Charlotte. Combined, the two charges carry a maximum penalty of more than 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine — though given his plea agreement, Jacobs’ penalty is expected to be much lighter. He will be sentenced at a later date.
Calls and emails Wednesday to Jacobs were not returned. His attorney, Melissa Owen of Charlotte, declined comment.
In a statement released after Jacobs’ hearing, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte said his criminal behavior occurred while he led two Charlotte churches.
Plea documents say Jacobs led the Rock Worship Center Church from at least 2009 to 2018. The website of the southwest Charlotte congregation still lists him as pastor, crediting Jacobs with building the church from the ground up, and growing membership from the 11 who turned up for the first service to more than 1,500.
In a 2009 story in the Observer, Jacobs — who at the time was doubling as a preacher and an executive with a pharmaceutical company — said his growing ministry had to balance its members’ spiritual and secular needs.
”The church should be a place that uplifts and encourages,” Jacobs said. “But it also should be a place that helps people find a job.”
For much of his time at the Rock Worship pulpit, Jacobs apparently had trouble following the New Testament’s rendering advice.
From 2009 to 2017, according to his plea documents, Jacobs filed one federal income tax return, and it was fraudulent.
In 2014 — the sole tax year for which Jacobs was charged — Rock Worship Center paid Jacobs almost $390,000, prosecutors say. On his tax filing, however, Jacobs listed his income at $66,300. That left him a tax bill of just under $5,500, which he never paid, court documents claim.
For the filing years of 2013-2016 alone, according to the documents, Jacobs owes the IRS about $285,000 in back taxes.
Rock Worship Center did not respond to an email or phone call Wednesday seeking comment.
In 2020, when Jacobs was pastor of Quest Church off Beatties Ford Road in west Charlotte, prosecutors say he used the pandemic to diversify his criminal revenue streams.
Court documents say he filed a loan application to the Paycheck Protection Program, a federal COVID disaster relief program, using fabricated payroll and tax records filed in behalf of the church to land a $52,500 loan. Court documents don’t indicate how Jacobs used the money.
Jacobs claimed that Quest Church had paid its employees more than $135,500 in salaries that year. According to documents, however, the church did not report any wages to the IRS.
Quest Church did not respond to an Observer email and phone call on Wednesday.
It’s unclear if Jacobs is still the church’s minister. The pastor tab on the Quest website appears to have been detached.
This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 11:23 AM.
