SEATTLE — A pastor of Passion for Christ of Kirkland was arraigned Tuesday in U.S. District Court on charges of wire fraud and money laundering in connection with an alleged $13 million scheme in which he is accused of soliciting investments from church members and others for a Bellevue company that prosecutors say had no real operations.
Cristian Popescu, 46, of Bothell, pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering. A trial is scheduled for Dec. 21. Popescu, a citizen of Romania, was released on electronic monitoring over the objections of prosecutors.
Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd said in a statement that Popescu “created the mirage of a successful, valuable online marketplace and social media site in one.” Floyd added: “Popescu lured investors from his church with fake marketing materials, websites, and expensive offices, and then took their money for his own luxuries and day trading, betraying them financially and faithfully.”
W. Mike Herrington, special agent in charge of the FBI Seattle field office, said the charges allege that “a religious leader abused the trust of his fellow believers to steal millions of dollars for his own personal benefit.” Herrington said Popescu “defrauded dozens of his own church members through a series of elaborate lies, including promises of a future stock exchange listing and claims that the profits would benefit the community.”
According to the indictment, Popescu was the founder and chief executive officer of Followone Inc., a Bellevue-based company he promoted beginning no later than 2015 as “the global online marketplace and social network.” He told investors the company had developed an internet platform with “secret technology” that allowed users to buy and sell goods and services across multiple markets, including cars, real estate, health care, food and travel. He claimed the company would generate revenue by selling subscriptions to the platform.
Prosecutors allege that Followone in fact had minimal operations, generated no revenue and lacked the capacity to execute any transactions. The indictment states that Popescu used lies and deception to create the appearance that the company had earned millions of dollars in revenue, substantially grown the value of shareholder investments and was preparing for a direct listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange that would produce substantial gains.
Popescu also served as pastor of Passion for Christ, a Kirkland Christian congregation. The indictment alleges he used that position to solicit investments and loans from congregants and others, telling them God had spoken to him and chosen them to invest, that their money would further the church’s mission of benefiting the community, particularly children and the elderly, and that the funds would remain within Followone or in a separate secure account from which they could be withdrawn at any time. Prosecutors say he obtained at least $13 million from more than 30 investors.
The indictment describes a series of tactics Popescu allegedly used to maintain the appearance of a functioning business. He issued press releases that overstated the company’s value and operations, including claims that Followone had hired experienced software engineers from major companies such as Amazon and Microsoft and that its platform featured a “vast array of product categories.”
He also leased an expensive office suite in downtown Bellevue, furnished it with high-end furniture and announced that the headquarters would be staffed with more than 20 employees, including sales representatives, customer care staff and developers.
In reality, the indictment states, Followone employed only approximately three people other than Popescu, and those employees were engaged primarily in creating non-functional web pages.
To populate the website, Popescu allegedly directed programmers to use publicly available sales data, including car listings purchased from Marketcheck and real estate listings from a multiple listing service, creating the appearance of active commerce.
Press releases claimed the site offered more than 6 million auto listings and had launched a real estate platform, though prosecutors say no transactions were executed and the site lacked the capacity to complete them. Popescu also assigned high-level titles such as chief operating officer and chief technology officer to lower-level employees or affiliates who did not perform the associated duties, and he designated some large investors as “board members” in name only, without providing them financial information or oversight authority.
Popescu required investors to sign nondisclosure agreements, often refused to discuss Followone by phone and directed them to use encrypted messaging services, according to the indictment. During in-person meetings, he required participants to turn off their phones and disable recording devices such as Amazon Alexa speakers. He repeatedly returned to existing investors for additional funds, typically telling them the company was months away from a Nasdaq listing and needed the money to complete the process.
He encouraged investors to generate funds by drawing on savings, taking personal or home equity loans and liquidating college and retirement accounts, in some cases directing them to move money into self-directed individual retirement accounts before transferring it to Followone accounts he controlled.
The indictment further alleges that Popescu used shell companies under his control to create the appearance of genuine business dealings. He caused Followone to issue fraudulent invoices to the shell companies for development services that were never performed, then transferred funds in circular transactions so that the money appeared to be payments from third parties. He maintained an investor website that displayed purported current values for holdings based on inflated company valuations, at one point $1.4 billion, leading investors to believe their stakes were worth millions or tens of millions of dollars when the company had little or no value.
When investors later requested the return of their money, Popescu allegedly told them that doing so would interfere with an ongoing audit or the Nasdaq listing process. When they pressed for information or expressed doubts, he invoked his pastoral role, became irate and told them they were demonically possessed, the indictment states.
Followone was ultimately evicted from its Bellevue office with a past-due rent balance of more than $350,000, and the company stopped paying employees due to a lack of cash, facts that were not disclosed to investors.
Contrary to representations that investor funds would remain in the company or a separate account, Popescu transferred more than $4.5 million of Followone funds to personal bank accounts held in his name and that of his wife, according to the indictment. He paid himself more than $1 million in Followone wages between 2017 and 2024 and paid his wife approximately $300,000 in wages even though she was not a genuine employee. He transferred nearly $900,000 to his personal stock trading account and used approximately $1 million of company funds to pay personal credit card debt.
The 10 wire fraud counts relate to specific interstate transmissions, including check deposits, teller transfers, wire transfers and emails between May 2022 and April 2026. One investor sent nearly $1 million in a single wire transfer; others invested nearly $600,000 and $500,000. The five money laundering counts detail transfers of investment funds from Followone accounts to Popescu’s personal bank accounts or his E*Trade brokerage account.
Wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Money laundering is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charges in the indictment are only allegations. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The case is being investigated by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Wilkinson. The case number is CR26-191 JHC.
Author: Mario Lotmore
