Author: Laura Strickler
Publication: AOL News
Date: November 6, 2007
URL:
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/senate-probes-televangelists-finances/20071106091309990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
CBS News has learned Sen. Charles Grassley
of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is investigating
six prominent televangelist ministries for possible financial misconduct.
Letters were sent Monday to the ministries
demanding that financial statements and records be turned over to the committee
by Dec. 6.
According to Grassley's office, the Iowa Republican
is trying to determine whether or not these ministries are improperly using
their tax-exempt status as churches to shield lavish lifestyles.
The six ministries identified as being under
investigation by the committee are led by: Paula White, Joyce Meyer, Creflo
Dollar, Eddie Long, Kenneth Copeland and Benny Hinn. Three of the six - Benny
Hinn, Kenneth Copeland and Creflo Dollar - also sit on the Board of Regents
for the Oral Roberts University.
A spokesperson for Joyce Meyer Ministries
provided CBS News with an IRS letter to the ministry dated October 10, 2007,
that stated: "We determined that you continue to qualify as an organization
exempt from Federal income tax." The letter could not be independently
verified in time for this story. The ministry also pointed to audited financial
statements for the last three years that are posted on the organization's
website.
In a statement, Benny Hinn's spokesperson,
Ronn Torossian, said the ministry was in the process of determining the best
course of action in response to the Senate investigation. "World Healing
Center Church complies with the laws that govern church and non-profit organizations
and will continue to do so," Torossian wrote.
In a statement to CBS News, Creflo Dollar
called his ministry an "open book" and said he would comply with
any "valid request" from Grassley. But he noted that the inquiry
raised questions that could "affect the privacy of every community church
in America."
The other three ministries did not respond
to requests for comment from CBS News on Monday.
Because they have tax status as churches,
the ministries do not have to file IRS 990 forms like other non-profit organizations
- leaving much financial information largely behind closed doors.
The letters sent Monday were the culmination
of a long investigation fueled in part by complaints from Ole Anthony, a crusader
against religious fraud who operates the Dallas-based Trinity Foundation,
which describes itself as a watchdog monitoring religious media, fraud and
abuse. "We've been working with them for two years," Anthony told
CBS News. "We have furnished them with enough information to fill a small
Volkswagen."
Anthony said after twenty years of working
with media organizations to expose televangelists, he saw little reform. He
says that's why he turned to another tactic, going straight to Grassley. He
is confident that Grassley's inquiry will be different, "What we hope
is that this will lead to reform in religious nonprofits."
The structure of many televangelist organizations
- in which the leadership is often concentrated in one person or one family
- has itself been the target of criticism. "Churches like these are ruled
as a dictatorship," says Rod Pitzer, who directs research at Ministry
Watch in North Carolina, which provides advice for donors to Christian organizations.
Pitzer welcomes the Senate committee investigation.
Ministries lacking accountability, he says, "give a black eye to churches
and Christians who are trying to do things in the right manner."
