Black Baptist Leader Charged With Theft

The leader of one of the nation’s largest black denominations was charged in St. Petersburg with racketeering and theft for allegedly opening a secret bank account and diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars in church funds for his personal use. The Rev. Henry Lyons, president of the National Baptist Convention U.S.A. Inc., was accused of defrauding the Anti-Defamation League out of nearly $250,000 it donated last year to rebuild black churches in the South that had been burned. Lyons was charged with one count of racketeering and two counts of theft.