The scam is that he bought the land for $155,000 less than what it's worth, and the congregation has no idea this is what has happened. They are unaware that they have taken a huge loss so this elder trustee can make out like a bandit. Do you think this deal would have been approved had the facts been presented to the congregation?
ADCMS is correct.
In a secular vein, the president of a S&L that I know about did about the same thing, multiple times, with home loans. He would write the loan for way over fair market value, sell it to a holding company which he owned for pennies on the dollar, then claim the loss for his S&L, pocket the proceeds and he made millions, before the government caught up with him and sent him to prison with a ten year sentence.
BTW, are the initials of any of the principles D.V.?