FLINT — Federal regulators are accusing a pastor in Michigan of fraud, saying he used the Bible to persuade retirees and laid-off auto workers to invest more than $6 million with him.

The Securities and Exchange Commission says the Rev. Larry Holley and his Treasure Enterprise LLC owe 43 Michigan investors about $2 million. The government believes Holley also owes investors in 13 other states.

He has not been criminally charged.

The government said today that Holley promised risk-free returns from real estate. He is pastor of Abundant Life Ministries in Flint, Michigan. A Detroit federal judge has frozen his assets.

A phone message seeking comment from Holley wasn’t immediately returned.

The government says he told investors that he was more credible than a banker because he prayed for their children.

Detroit Free Press