An $8 Million Sale Collapsed, a $2.5 Million Loan Paid the Mortgage: A Georgia Church in Court Over Who Owes What

• M. Entertainment agreed to buy Covenant Baptist Church for $8 million
• Exigo Management supplied $2,534,246.25 in temporary funding for the deal
• When the sale fell through, the money had already paid off the church’s mortgage
• A judge ruled the church owed $2,509,125; the church appealed and countersued

A failed church sale in Georgia has left a congregation and a lender in a $2.5 million legal fight, WSB-TV reported in May 2025.

Covenant Baptist Church in DeKalb County, led by Pastor Quincy Lavelle Carswell II, agreed to sell its building to M. Entertainment for $8 million. To help the transaction along, Jesse LeBlanc’s Exigo Management provided $2,534,246.25 in temporary funding, expecting to be repaid when the sale closed. The closing attorney wired the money to pay off the church’s mortgage with PrinsBank. Then the sale fell through.

“I’m like, well, something’s wrong here,” LeBlanc said. “It should never, ever, ever, ever be touched until the property is closed out.” In April a judge ruled the church owed LeBlanc $2,509,125. The church has appealed and filed a $2.5 million defamation countersuit.

Asked if he believed the church owed the money, Carswell replied: “No, sir.” He also said: “I would like for the lender to receive whatever he put in.” The church’s attorney, Waters, said: “Their failure to just exercise slight due diligence caused the situation to spiral out of control.”

Whoever is right, the outcome is that the church no longer has a bank mortgage but faces a court judgment for a similar sum, while still owning a building it had planned to sell. Bridge funding, escrow and closing instructions are technical, but mistakes in them can transfer millions of dollars of risk.

Jamaican churches selling property should use an experienced conveyancing attorney, make sure any deposit or bridge money is held in escrow under written instructions, and never allow funds to be released before the sale completes. Members and trustees should understand every document signed in the church’s name.