Eddie Mackenzie

American criminal, a con-man, convicted drug dealer and author of a memoir about his years working for gangland leader, Whitey Bulger, Mackenzie describes himself as "a man almost irresistibly drawn to cons and scams according to reporter Kevin Cullen in an article published in the Boston Globe on 3/14/2004. Currently awaiting trial on charges of swindling $200,000 from an elderly woman, MacKenzie also faces charges for threatening to kill his ex-wife gangland-style, and he recently admitted to filing false worker’s compensation claims. However, since September 2003, MacKenzie has been treasurer of Boston’s Swedenborgian church on tony Beacon Hill. The new leaders of the church include the pastor, who believes MacKenzie to be a repentant sinner. However the new leaders now face a lawsuit and criminal investigation for possible racketeering. After they tried to sell church property and make loans to one of the new leaders, the national church filed a civil racketeering lawsuit against the new leadership on March 2, 2004 in US District Court. The suit alleges that MacKenzie is a criminal and has "infiltrated the Church only to access its resources for his own personal benefit." Last November 2003, when the Attorney General’s office began its investigation, MacKenzie stepped down as treasurer and became instead the church’s chief of operations. The Church is named for the 18th century Swedish scientist-philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg MacKenzie, father of five daughters, is aware of the church’s traditions to pay college tuition for members’ children and has been accused of joining to take advantage of that policy. He defends himself by saying that his only goal is to help the disadvantaged by positive use of the church’s wealth. His ex-wife says, "I don’t think Eddie could change even if he wanted to...He preys on people with good hearts and takes them for what they are worth. I went through seven years of hell and therapy. I feel sorry for those people at that church." MacKenzie in turn accuses her of having a "pathological desire to destroy him."