On Thursday, the FBI raided three churches in Georgia and Texas, all of which were affiliated with the House of Prayer Christian Church (HOPCC) and all of which were known to target soldiers specifically. While the FBI hasn’t released any formal statement about the raid, there’s reason to believe it occurred because of alleged fraud taking place at those churches. The story behind it is wild.

In 2020, a group called Veterans Education Success, which helps military members and their families achieve success in higher education, sent a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs asking them to investigation potential abuses of the GI Bill Program by seminaries run by the HOPCC. In fact, many of their churches are located right next to military bases, which gives them plenty of access to soldiers and veterans.

Veterans Education Success said it had spoken to several of its members, including “14 former members of the Church and one current member,” who said HOPCC was trying to deceive the VA into giving it money it didn’t deserve.