Gourt Home::Gourt :: Edward Morrissey
Edward Morrissey is the husband of Rev. Mary Manin Morrissey who pled guilty to money laundering and using funds from his wife's church, Living Enrichment Center, for personal expenses. Edward Morrissey was sentenced to federal prison for his crimes. He is slated for release in early 2007.
Marriage to Mary Manin
Mary Manin Boggs was the founder (along with her then-husband Haven Boggs) and senior minister of Living Enrichment Center, a New Thought "mega-church" in Wilsonville, Oregon with a congregation estimated at 2,000 to 5,000 members. Edward Morrissey married Mary Manin Boggs (thereafter known as Mary Manin Morrissey) in the mid-1990s, and shortly after the marriage Edward Morrissey became the CFO of the church.
Both Morrisseys sued, only Edward sentenced to prison
In the summer of 2004, Living Enrichment Center closed amid a multi-million-dollar financial scandal. Though both Edward Morrissey and Rev. Mary Manin Morrissey were listed as defendants in many lawsuits filed by former members of the congregation, it was Edward Morrissey who eventually pled guilty to money laundering and using church funds for the personal expenses of himself and his wife. Edward Morrissey was sentenced to federal prison. To this day, Rev. Mary Manin Morrissey claims that she had no knowledge of her husband's illegal use of church funds. Edward Morrissey has claimed the same.
- "In fairness to Mary Morrissey, it's not implausible that she was mislead by her husband about the church's finances – and it's worth noting that she maintains some real support among the folks who got burned.... But those details come back to suggest other possibilities: 1) that we're dealing with a true cult, one that was devoted to the enrichment and aggrandizement of Mary Morrissey until it collapsed (sub-clause on #1 includes the possibility that Ed's under her spell); 2) a more practical 'conspiracy' that assumes that Edward Morrissey took the fall because his wife's the one who can go on the speaking tours to pay off creditors." – The Intersection of Spirituality and Fleecing
Edward Morrissey has been serving time at Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island in Central California since early 2005. He is slated for release to a halfway house in August of 2006. Morrissey's term is scheduled to end in February of 2007.
See also
- List of convicted or indicted religious leaders
- List of organizations & people involved in money-laundering
External links
- "Intersection of Spirituality and Fleecing" blog entry by Jeff Bull regarding the plea bargain struck with Ed and Mary Morrissey wherein Mary Morrissey did not serve time in prison.
Corporate Securities findings regarding Morrissey investigation
Willamette Week articles about Living Enrichment Center
"Edward Morrissey"