Photograph of European Commissioner John Dalli in the Bahamas with evangelist fraudster Mel Tari

Published: May 9, 2015 at 11:33pm
A very relaxed John Dalli, then still a European Commissioner, lies on a sofa in the Bahamas between two fraudsters, Mary Swan aka Lady Bird on the left and Mel Tari standing right, ringed in red. HIs daughter Louisa Dalli, wearing white, is seated near him.

A very relaxed John Dalli, then still a European Commissioner, lies on a sofa in the Bahamas between two fraudsters, Mary Swan aka Lady Bird on the left and Mel Tari standing right, ringed in red. HIs daughter Louisa Dalli, wearing white, is seated near him.

mel tari 3

Mel Tari Los Angeles Times Christine Kline

One of the people staying at the Bahamas villa with John Dalli, who was a European Commissioner at the time, his daughter Louisa Dalli and the fraudster Mary Swan aka Lady Bird in August 2012 was Mel Tari, an evangelist notorious for his financially predatory behaviour with trusting believers. The villa was rented for a year by Dalli’s other daughter Claire Gauci Borda, who made the booking from the Dalli office at Portomaso.

Please read the newspaper report screenshot reproduced on left, and then read the following report from Christianity Today.

JUDGE FINDS EVANGELIST DEFRAUDED HEIRESS

By John Stewart in Los Angeles/ AUGUST 15, 1994

Evangelist Mel Tari, whose best-selling book “Like a Mighty Wind” claimed to detail miracles that occurred during the 1950s and 1960s, has been ordered to pay a former supporter approximately $1.1 million for fraud.

After a four-day trial in late June, an Orange County (Calif.) Superior Court judge ruled Tari had “conned” Christine Kline out of her inheritance.

It is unclear whether Tari will appeal the ruling.

Kline, 41, a former Youth With A Mission worker, was heir to a small fortune in corporate stock. She met Tari in 1985 and told him of her interest in using the stock assets to support herself and others in mission work.

Tari convinced Kline that he would set up a trust fund with the money. But instead, he sold $400,000 in stocks and used the proceeds to invest in a resort company (Running Commentary Note: Tari was vice-president of this company, All Seasons Resorts).

Tari claimed the funds had been a gift.

During the trial, accounts from Tari’s books were read, detailing miracles performed in Indonesia, including a legless man growing legs instantly after Tari’s prayers.

Kline testified that, at the time, she believed Tari had special powers to work physical and financial miracles.

The judge ordered Tari to pay $725,000 in damages. With interest, the award was estimated to be $1.1 million.