Homophobic Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr. and 23 year-old Benjamin Crosswhite have a very “interesting” relationship, it seems.
According to real estate records and university emails, Falwell practically gifted some very valuable property from his non-profit Christian university to his personal trainer.
Crosswhite graduated from the school and thanks to Falwell’s largess he’s now the owner of a multi-million dollar, 18-acre racquetball and fitness facility located on university property.
Reuters says,
Around 2011, Falwell, president of Liberty University in Virginia, and his wife, Rebecca, began personal fitness training sessions with Benjamin Crosswhite, then a 23-year-old recent Liberty graduate…
…In 2016, Falwell signed a real estate deal transferring the sports facility, complete with tennis courts and a fitness center owned by Liberty, to Crosswhite. Under the terms, Crosswhite wasn’t required to put any of his own money down toward the purchase price, a confidential sales contract obtained by Reuters shows.
This was a DEAL, huh? $0 down, plus, the university gave Crosswhite a $1.2 MILLION loan with a very low interest rate to buy the property from the school.
Then they paid him almost $650,000 to lease it back to them!
When asked for comment, Crosswhite said,
“My wife and I consult each other before every major business deal and we bought the complex from Liberty together. My wife and I both work around the clock to make our business succeed.”
(Yes, use the words “my wife” in there, twice. We get the not-so-subtle message.)
A spokesperson for the school said Falwell was just trying to help the young man by being
“a business mentor”
But as you may know, this isn’t the first time Falwell has been involved with sketchy financial dealings and a much younger man.
Earlier this year, he once contacted Michael Cohen (Trump’s incarcerated personal attorney) for help regarding an “embarrassing personal matter” involving him, his wife, and their 20-something pool boy, Giancarlo Granda, who they first met a hotel while on vacation.
Granda supposedly got his hands on some scandalous pics of Falwell’s wife and was blackmailing them for $1.8 million. So Falwell asked Cohen, “the fixer”, for help.
Then they all denied the whole sordid thing, but the Miami Herald confirmed that the racy photos DID exist.
It was later exposed that the Falwells agreed to lend Granda a little money.
$4.7 MILLION!
…so he could purchase a youth hostel, restaurant and liquor store in Miami.
See a pattern here? (And a type.) Both stories involve Falwell loaning large amounts of money to hot young guys. But for what in return?
Hmmm…
(Photos, screen grabs; via Queerty)
