Northside pastors and their followers prepare to fight fraud claims

Bishop Larry Cook and his wife, Dr. Sharon Cook, reject claims in a lawsuit that their Real Believers Faith Ministries and Les Jolis Petite School of Dance misused $2 million in charitable funds. Photo by David Pierini

By David Pierini and Azhae’la Hanson, North News

Bishop Larry Cook and his wife, Dr. Sharon Cook, are mounting a vigorous defense from a $2 million fraud lawsuit filed by the Attorney General’s Office against their Northside ministries, including Sharon’s long-time dance studio, Les Jolies Petite.

The Cooks are accused of using their non-profits to grow their for-profit businesses and feed a lavish lifestyle of travel, cars and fashion. They say the trips were church retreats, dance recitals and workshops paid for by attending members. A Louis Vuitton store receipt referenced in the lawsuit was for purchases from Sharon Cook's own money, she said.

They have the backing of many of the roughly 500 followers of Real Believers Faith Center. Church members, friends and dance school alums have defended the Cooks on social media and quickly raised more than $20,000 so that they could hire a lawyer after a judge froze their assets.

The Cooks say they have “tight” accounting books, receipts and explanations to rebut every count of the 48-page lawsuit they believe is fueled by mounting political pressure on the state to root out fraud.

Those defending the couple say the two paid their own way on these trips and have documents and photos to debunk accusations that they used charitable funds for expensive family vacations.

The Cooks have been defiant, and their followers even more ardent in the innocence of two people they say changed their lives. “So, when you see the frustration from the members, it’s because we know who they really are,” Luther Redus said, who paid his wife’s way on one of the trips named as evidence in the lawsuit. “I’ve watched this man pull his last out of his pocket to make sure we had something to eat. He wouldn’t do that if he were stealing from us.”

Because of his ties to North Minneapolis, Attorney General Keith Ellison recused himself from the investigation, which began in 2024, a spokesman from his office told North News. Ellison, whose daughter, the Cooks say, took dance lessons at Les Jolies Petite, declined to comment.

Following the money

The lawsuit alleges “rampant misuse” of non-profit assets by the Cooks and documents a trail of “questionable expenses” with bank records, cash withdrawal and transfer slips and Cash App transactions.

Some 91 percent of Real Believers Faith Ministries’ transactions from Feb. 2018 to Oct. 31, 2024, had “no identified nonprofit purpose,” and assistant attorney generals say about $1.3 million in the accounts were likely misused, according to the lawsuit.

Larry Cook said Real Believers Faith Center underwent a number of costly renovations during the period of time referenced in the lawsuit. “They said I pocketed all that money. They said there was no reason to take out a $200,000 loan,” Cook said. “I had a wall (in the church) that had collapsed.” Photo by David Pierini

Transaction records show $278,710 in cash and bank withdrawals and more than $150,000 in cash transfers to family members. The lawsuit also lists travel expenses, including more than $12,000 in hotel bills on a trip to London, which Larry Cook said was a retreat for pastors who all paid their way.

Fifty percent of the transactions from the dance school also lacked the necessary non-profit tracking with about $800,000 in charitable assets being misused, the lawsuit said.

State attorneys have flagged $50,000 in money transfers from the dance school to the Cooks and point to a for-profit costume company they say Sharon Cook formed to funnel non-profit funds from the dance school to the Cooks.

When the Cooks purchased a gas station and a food stand next door to the church in 2022, the Cooks signed a licensing agreement that required $70,000 upfront from Real Believers accounts and $6,000 a month to operate, according to the lawsuit.

Larry Cook later formed a for-profit entity called Lions Den Pride Covenant Enterprises LLC. Investigators said the Cooks used the nonprofit to pay the gas station's license fees and then funneled gas station profits to the LLC.

“(The Cooks) engaged in the misuse of nonprofit assets and founded for-profit businesses with the same name as nonprofit organizations to create confusion as to where donations were being deposited and for whose benefit,” the lawsuit said. “This Complaint exposes brazen and systematic abuse in Minnesota’s charitable sector, where nonprofit organizations intended to serve the public good were instead exploited as personal piggy banks by those entrusted to protect them.”

Churchgoers greeted Larry Cook following a Wednesday night Bible study, where he and his wife, Sharon, gave their followers an update on the Attorney General’s lawsuit filed against them. Photo by David Pierini

Invoking the right to remain silent

When the investigation began, the Cooks did not wait for a warrant to turn over bank account numbers. They said they felt as though they had nothing to hide. But investigators, the Cooks said, were reticent, and in depositions, they were advised by an attorney to remain silent.

“I said, ‘Ain’t that what criminals do?’ We’re not criminals,” Larry Cook recalled. “(The attorney) said you don’t have to assist with their investigation. They haven’t been forthright with you; you don’t have to be forthright with them.”

Sharon Cook realized the questions from the assistant attorney generals laid out their case. From that, they could gather financial records and affidavits from witnesses to solidify a defense.

The church and dance school, which the Cooks see as part of the same ministry, were undergoing simultaneous repairs and renovations, requiring the Cooks to make several transactions, including cash withdrawals.

“They don’t know what they’re looking at,” Larry Cook said. “I would have gladly explained this, but that’s not how they wanted to pursue this. They said I pocketed all that money. They said there was no reason to take out a $200,000 loan. I had a wall (in the church) that had collapsed.”

Sharon Cook said the lawsuit flags personal expenses she made with money she inherited from her father's

passing. She put some of that money into renovating the dance school.

She believes this investigation started when the dance school failed to file a final report on a grant. The Cooks had changed their email addresses and believe the state sent the usual reminder to the old address.

“The AG has enormous resources and the damage to our stellar reputation, that’s the most disheartening thing,” Sharon Cook said. “It’s a stereotype, you know, that Black churches don’t have their books straight, don’t know where the money is. But that’s not us.”

'The light is on me’

The Cooks established their ministry 30 years ago with a small church and a dance school. Many arrived at the church with no faith practice, family trauma and a rudderless outlook on their future.

Redus gets emotional when he thinks about his arrival at the church as a 17-year-old with his brother. They had lost their father and basically raised each other, he said.

“We found a place that doesn’t beat you down,” he said. “Coming from abuse and abandonment, the Cooks help you to see yourself, how God sees you, not as a filthy being that isn’t worth love, you know? He restored me.”

The Cooks say they are ready to defend against the fraud claims. Photo by David Pierini

Larry Cook was a barber, and the expansion of Real Believers Faith Center includes a women’s hair salon, a barber shop, and a soul food restaurant. These entities plus the gas station are designed to provide members of the church job training and economic independence.

Enia Kyle is grateful for the encouragement the Cooks gave her to pursue a career in hair styling.

While she was enrolled in beautician school, Sharon Cook allowed her daughter to dance at no cost.

When she graduated, the Cooks gave her a chair in the new salon and did not charge her rent until she had built up some savings. They even provided her with a vehicle and an assortment of hair products, all to keep her costs down while she banked her earnings.

Kyle said she has the receipts to show she paid her way on some of the trips mentioned in the lawsuit

“Luther’s right. There’s no way the Cooks never ever took anything from me,” Kyle said. “All they’ve ever done is give to me. They don’t ask for anything in return.”

During a recent Wednesday night Bible study, the Cooks sat at the front of the sanctuary to give worshipers an update on the case. Larry Cook used a passage from Isaiah to recognize that their faith is being tested by God.

He said he is not afraid.

“We don’t always get to choose when and where God is going to illuminate us,” Larry Cook said. “That’s why you see me out here. That’s why you see me bold and even demonstrative. I’m not going to trip back because

there is no shame in this moment. Shame don’t get to define this moment.

God’s glory does because of the impact we’ve had on this city. We know the city needs us.”