Husband of religious mentor charged with accepting bribes

Trevón Gross,husband ofQwynn Gross, a ministry fellow of Christian Union at Princetonand mentor to many students, wasrecentlychargedwith accepting bribes from an illegal Bitcoin exchange platform.

Christian Union oversees the Princeton Faith and Action program at Princeton. Qwynn Gross currently leads a Christian fellowship program and a bible study group on campus. Trevón Gross delivered a talk on Campus in February during a worship.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has not found illegal conduct by Qwynn Gross.

Qwynn Gross was unable to be reached for comment.

According to a statement from U. S. Attorney’s office, Trevón Gross is charged with “one count of corruptly accepting payments as an officer of a financial institution, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison."

His trial is scheduled for Oct. 31 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The Grosses are co-founders of the HOPE Cathedral, an independent ministry located in Jackson, N.J. Trevón Gross is the chairman of the Helping Other People Excel Federal Credit Union. The HOPE FCU had served 110 primarily low income residents in the Jackson since 1978 with assets totaling $626,529, according to astatementfrom the National Credit Union Administration.

Members of HOPE Cathedral did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

According to the statement, Trevón Gross allegedly transferred control of the HOPE FCU to conspirators of Coin.mx, an illegal Bitcoin exchange platform,in exchange for over $150,000 in payments to accounts under Trevón Gross’s control, and the money was spent on personal expenses, including personal credit card payments.

Coin.mx, which didn’t register with, and failed to meet, reporting requirements set by the United States Treasury Department, is in violation of federal anti-money-laundering laws and secretly operated under the front of a “Collectables Club,” according to the release. According to the FBI,the “Club” served to allow members to exchange collectible items such as stamps, processing payments as exchanges of these collectibles rather than Bitcoins.

The credit union installed leaders of Coin.mxon the board of directors. These leaders used the financial entity to process unlawful payments for over $1.8 million in Bitcoin exchanges between Oct. 2013 and Oct. 16, 2015, when the union was shut down, according to anFBI report.

The credit union was shut down following FBI investigations and was liquidated by the National Credit Union Administration, according to the statement.

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Despite the shut down, former members of the HOPE FCU should not experience any losses in funds, as each account is insured for $250,000 and their accounts have been transferred to another credit union.

Jon Nielson, Director of Undergraduate Ministryof Christian Union at Princeton, said that Christian Union has no affiliation with either HOPE Cathedral or HOPE FCU.

“Qwynn Gross participates in the HOPE Cathedral ministry on her own personal time – outside of her work hours and responsibilities with Christian Union,” Nielson said.

Janet Adelola '17, an executive board member of PFA, noted that the HOPE FCU has no affiliation with PFA and voiced her support for Qwynn Gross.

"Qwynn is an amazing woman and has had a great influence on students here. It is clear that she loves and cares for the students. She's a woman dedicated to her faith in God and is passionate about sharing what she has learned since becoming a Christian," said Adelola. "I've known Qwynn for over a year now and have always known her to be encouraging and loving."

PFA executive board members Alexandra Mairone '17 and Xavier Bledsoe '17 deferred comment to Adelola.