The facts
Cristian Popescu, 46, of Bothell, Washington, a citizen of Romania and pastor of a Kirkland Christian congregation called "Passion for Christ," was arraigned Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle on ten counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering in a $13 million fraud scheme. He pleaded not guilty, and trial is set for December 21, 2026.
According to the indictment, Popescu spent years claiming to own and operate a Bellevue company called Followone, Inc., an online global marketplace and social network in one. The platform, prosecutors say, was really a web of non-functional screens. His alleged lies included that the company earned millions in revenue, that it was about to be listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, that shareholder investments had grown in value, that he had hired leading software engineers from major companies, and that at one point the company was worth $1.4 billion when it had little or no value. He claimed twenty employees; there were three.
Popescu recruited investors from his own church, telling them that "God had chosen them to invest in the company" and that doing so would further the church's mission. He said their money would remain within Followone and could be withdrawn at any time. He made them sign non-disclosure agreements, use encrypted messaging, turn off their phones at meetings, and disable "smart" devices such as Amazon's Alexa service. He issued his own press releases with false claims about the company's success and rented expensive office space in Bellevue.
Popescu promised Followone board seats to anyone who invested $1 million, and urged victims to raid their retirement accounts, take out personal or home equity loans, and raid their children's college savings accounts. He used shell companies to make it look like Followone had real business dealings, paying fake invoices with investor money and recycling the payments into shell companies he controlled, and he kept a website claiming investments had grown substantially. When the company was evicted from its expensive offices with an unpaid rent bill of more than $350,000, and investors pressed for their money back, he stalled, saying repayment would interfere with the stock listing. When investors doubted him, he "became irate, and told the investors they were demonically possessed."
Prosecutors say Popescu moved over $4.5 million of Followone funds into accounts belonging to himself, his wife, and other family members; paid himself over $1 million in Followone wages between 2017 and 2024; and paid his wife some $300,000 though she was not a Followone employee. One victim wired nearly $1 million in a single transfer.
Over the objections of prosecutors, Popescu was ordered released on electronic monitoring while awaiting trial. Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; money laundering by up to ten years and a $250,000 fine. The charges are allegations; he is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty. The case was investigated by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Seth Wilkinson.
Our take
Cristian Popescu is the kind of pastor who treats the offering plate like a direct deposit into his wife's account and then loses his shit when anyone asks for a receipt. This Bothell dickhead allegedly spent years selling Followone as a global marketplace worth $1.4 billion when it was really just non-functional screens and three employees pretending to be twenty. He told his own congregation God had chosen them to invest, that their money would stay safe inside the company and could be pulled out anytime, then forced them to sign NDAs, use encrypted apps, kill their phones and disable Alexa so the smart speaker wouldn't hear the pitch.
When the Bellevue office got evicted over $350,000 in unpaid rent and the marks started demanding their retirement cash and children's college funds back, Popescu didn't show a ledger. He got irate and declared the doubters demonically possessed. That is the entire business model stripped bare: shut up, wire the money, and if you notice the shell companies recycling fake invoices, Satan must be involved. He allegedly moved more than $4.5 million straight into family accounts, paid himself over a million in wages across seven years, and cut his non-employee wife three hundred grand while the website claimed investments were growing.
A million-dollar check bought a board seat to oversee three people and a Nasdaq fantasy that never existed. The only real revenue came from raiding victims' home equity and 401(k)s, then recycling the payments through controlled shells to look like business. When the whole mirage collapsed he stalled repayment because it would supposedly interfere with the stock listing. Now the same grifter who called his investors possessed is out on electronic monitoring, pleading not guilty, with trial set for December 2026. The charges are allegations and he is presumed innocent until proven guilty, but the pattern is pure: use the pulpit to sell screenshots, call skepticism demonic, and keep the family paid until the feds knock.
