CENTENNIAL — The Rev. Acen Phillips today waived his right to a preliminary hearing in an insurance-fraud case and a judge set a date for his arraignment.
Phillips is expected to enter a plea in Arapahoe County District Court on March 20.
The pastor is accused of stealing or attempting to steal more than $575,000 by making bogus insurance claims to AIG Life Insurance Co.
The Colorado attorney general’s office says Phillips, a longtime Denver pastor, forged the signatures of at least five people, some of whom had died, and then backdated the documents to make his church and charitable organizations the beneficiary of the life-insurance policies.
The alleged victims were members of Mount Gilead Baptist Church and New Birth Temple of Praise Community Baptist Church. Phillips was pastor at both.
One theft and forgery charge involves Shelley Lowe. She was the girlfriend of Aaron Thompson, who has been indicted in the death of his 6-year-old daughter, Aaroné. Lowe died in 2006 of a heart attack.
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com
