Guilty verdicts cap Baptist case

Two former executives of the Baptist Foundation of Arizona were convicted Monday of fraud and racketeering related to the foundation's 1999 collapse, ending a 10-month trial.

It has been called the largest "affinity fraud" ever: More than 11,000 investors, many of them elderly Baptists who thought their investments would yield high interest rates while helping to do the Lord's work, lost more than $550 million.

The lead prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Don Conrad, was happy with the jury's decision.

"We've waited 10 months for justice to be done," he said.

His boss, Attorney General Terry Goddard, praised Conrad's work on the case and called the verdicts "a victory for thousands of victims who believed the promises made by the defendants."

"They had their faith shattered and faced the possible loss of all their retirement investments," he said.