Conman-Turned-Pastor Convicted Of Cheating Church Out Of $3 Million (VIDEO)

A pastor was convicted on Wednesday for cheating his San Diego church congregation out of some $3 million, the Associated Press reported.

Having gone from teenage millionaire to convicted con artist to professional fraud fighter and pastor, Barry Minkow pleaded guilty to embezzling funds from the San Diego Community Bible Church, a U.S. attorney's statement said.

According to the AP, Minkow, who was already serving a five-year sentence for a securities fraud conviction in Florida, might be sentenced for five additional years for the new conviction on April 7.

Forging signatures on checks, using member donations for personal benefit and opening unauthorized church bank accounts were the pleas Minkow admitted to.

"Barry Minkow is again convicted of fraud, this time for stealing money from the parishioners of San Diego Community Bible Church," U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said. "We stand vigilant against those who cheat and steal without regard to the consequences wrought on their victims and their communities."

In the 1980s, Minkow gained national attention as a teenager by founding the ZZZZ Best carpet cleaning company in Southern California. By taking a company public at the age of 21, Minkow became the youngest person to become so wealthy on paper.

"But ZZZZ Best turned out to be involved in a fraud scheme in which investors poured $100 million into fake fire and water restoration projects. And in 1988, Minkow was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted of 57 fraud charges," the AP reported.

After being released in 1995 and undergoing a religious conversion in prison, Minkow became pastor of the San Diego church two years later.

Fraud Discovery Institute, which helped the FBI and other law enforcement agencies ferret out white-collar crimes around the country, was founded by him, the AP reported.

However, he was engaged in manipulating the stock prices of the companies he was investigating while working with the institute, federal prosecutors said.

In a scam that cost homebuilder Lennar Corp. some $580 million in lost stock value, a Miami federal judge sentenced Minkow to five years in prison for his involvement in 2011.

The judge, Patricia Seitz, said at the time that Minkow was a "very gifted person," but he had "no moral compass that says 'stop.'"