Beware Pastors Bearing Gifts

There was a story in the April 23rd edition of the NY Times about an evangelical pastor, Isidro Bolaños, who offered jobs to many people after claiming to have received a grant which would pay their salaries.  The jobs never showed up, the claims were false, and the real question seems to be what was the purpose of the scheme?

It does not appear that he requested money from his victims, but only that he got personal information under the guise of processing their hiring.  Was this an amateurish attempt at identity theft?  A search on G\google didn't provide any answers about the outcome.  All the stories turned up in the first seven pages of results seem to hash over the same facts.

The pastor left for Latin America when his actions made the news.  He did return and eventually returned documents to those duped with a promise not to use the information. And there it stands.  Curiosity thwarted.

David Gonzalez's account of how he discovered the story is available online.