Co-Founders of $8M Christian Health Care Ministry Scheme Plead Guilty

Posted April 10, 2024

A co-founder of the Christian health care sharing ministry in St. Joseph pleaded guilty in federal court Monday for his role in an $8 million wire fraud conspiracy that cheated hundreds of members and to making false statements on a personal tax return.

James L. McGinnis, 77, of St. Joseph, co-founded Medical Cost Sharing, a tax-exempt organization, serving as its chief operating officer from 2014 through December 2022. McGinnis pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of making false statements on a tax return, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri.

McGinnis also pleaded guilty to false statements on a tax return, claiming he had no taxable income in 2019.

Additionally, Craig Anthony Reynolds, 62, of St. Joseph, served as Medical Cost Sharing’s president and chief executive officer from 2014 through December 2022, pleaded guilty to the same charges in a separate but related case on Nov. 14, 2023.

McGinnis and Reynolds used Medical Cost Sharing as a “Health Care Sharing Ministry” to defraud hundreds of “ministry members,” according to the release. However, Medical Cost Sharing collected over $8 million in contributions but only paid 3.1 percent in health care claims.

Together, McGinnis and Reynolds pocketed at least $5,168,268 from the member contributions from December 2015 through December 2022.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, McGinnis must pay restitution to Medical Cost Sharing member victims and to the IRS. He must also forfeit any property obtained from the wire fraud conspiracy and a money judgment representing all proceeds obtained from the scheme to the government.