Jason Stockstill on left, Larry Stockstill on right

Pastors, televangelists, and other religious leaders are held in a position of trust.  In general, they are more trusted by the churchgoing, Bible-believing public because they are assumed to be living clean, godly lives.  They are assumed to have integrity.

When one of these leaders recommends an investment to a member or members of their congregation who have money to invest, it should be a no-brainer to fund, finance or otherwise support whatever “great investment opportunity” they recommend.

But not so fast. We’ve been told by financial regulators that there is more money stolen in the name of God than any other way!  Check out this pastor’s fraudulent crypto-currency scheme for example.

“Godly” leaders themselves are also vulnerable to investment scams. It’s common for religious leaders to be recruited by unscrupulous con-artists by appealing to the leader’s underlying human greed. Moreover, pastors are frequently bad at discerning people’s character.

Televangelist Benny Hinn was never charged or convicted of any crime, but in the early 2000s, Hinn had a hand in helping gain investors for two different ‘Ponzi Scheme’ criminals, Gregory Setser and Joseph Medawar, who stole millions from unsuspecting investors and were convicted.  Our article How Criminals Target Wealthy Believers gives more details. This type of situation is known as “religious affinity fraud”.

The following is an ongoing story about religious affinity investments that have gone awry.

Larry Stockstill, Jason Stockstill, & Tangible Trading Company—an Investor’s Nightmare

 Ken Addington invested $175,000

 Jason Stockstill approached Ken Addington in the fall of 2021 to invest in his export company and to join the board of directors.  He called it Tangible Trading Co. and incorporated it in Delaware.

When Addington found out Jason’s father, retired Louisiana megachurch Pastor Larry Stockstill was the Chairman of the Board of ‘Tangible’ he “felt it was an honor for me to serve with these men.  I felt that Larry was a pastor’s pastor, a man of integrity and held him in the highest regard.”

Continue reading “What Can Go Wrong Investing in a Pastor’s Family Enterprise? A Stockstill Business Affair”

David E Taylor, a self-proclaimed prophet and faith healer on the WORD Network has FINALLY been arrested for an elaborate human trafficking and money laundering scheme.  Why say “FINALLY”?  Taylor’s abusive and deceptive tactics can be traced back at least two decades.

Beginning seven years ago Trinity Foundation sent reports about David E Taylor to the IRS Exempt Organization Division. Our first report was delivered in 2018 when we recommended Taylor’s organizations lose their tax exempt status and again in 2019 in a report titled “Recommendation to File Criminal Charges Against David E. Taylor and Revoke the Tax-Exempt Status of 3 Organizations:  Joshua Media Ministries Inc. (JMMI), Kingdom of God Global Church, & Kingdom Family Church)”.

A ten-count indictment was filed July 23^rd, 2025 in a Michigan U.S. District Court charging Taylor and his Executive Director Michelle Brannon, Taylor’s enforcer, with “Conspiracy to Commit Forced Labor” and “Money Laundering Conspiracy”.

This was a coordinated investigation by the FBI and the Criminal Investigative Division of the IRS which included raids in Detroit, Houston, and Tampa as well as coordinated efforts in St. Louis and Charlotte.  SWAT teams were dispatched to the church’s 28,000 square foot parsonage (includes guest house) in Tampa and to Taylor’s “JMMI” headquarters in Houston which formerly was a 67-room hotel.

Fox news Houston’s report mentioned some people were taken out in handcuffs and others simply walked out.  Detroit’s local TV news 4 report mentioned the disturbing allegations in the indictment.

The deeply disturbing allegations in the indictment include severe punishment exacted by Taylor and Brannon when unpaid call center workers did not meet their quota of donation money raised, such as withholding meals, forced fasting, forced diets of peanut butter and jelly, forced labor until 4 am, mandated sleeping in a garage, begging for forgiveness on one’s knees, and physical abuse, etc.

Eight victims were listed as witnesses in the indictment, with names redacted and Trinity Foundation believes more will come forward following these arrests.

The U.S. Department of Justice summarized the indictment in a press release earlier this morning:  “Two Self-Professed Religious Leaders Who Used Physical and Psychological Abuse to Coerce Victims to Solicit Tens of Millions in Donations Federally Charged and Arrested”

Our 2019 report stated, “Taylor’s money-raising tactics cross state lines and go all over the US via his internet website, mass emails, the US postal service, and television.”

Trinity Foundation is preparing to launch a document library later this week and we’re calling it the “Vault”, featuring our investigative reports, church and ministry governance documents, financial reports, fraudulent fund-raising letters / mail marketing, and much more.  We want people to see with their own eyes the methods corrupt religious leaders employ.

Snake image from Pixabay, screen shot of Benny Hinn on Daystar, Joni Table Talk

Teflon televangelist Benny Hinn is back in the international crusades numbers game again.

From July 30, 2025: “Beloved Partner… Right now, our ministry is making preparations for a massive tent revival in England, where we expect tens of thousands (really??) to gather for a divine encounter with Jesus. Simultaneously, I’m about to depart for Ghana, where I will minister to over 25,000 pastors (is that true??), equipping them to carry the fire of the Gospel to their nations.”

AND from June 30, 2025, “My Precious Partner (if he only knew)… What we have just witnessed in Uganda is nothing short of a divine visitation—a historic moment in the Kingdom of God. Over the course of three unforgettable nights, more than 1.5 million people attended (who was doing the counting??), and one single service drew a staggering crowd of 700,000 hungry souls (you don’t say… ??) crying out to the Lord. The atmosphere was saturated with worship, miracles, and the unmistakable presence of the Holy Spirit…  Over 15 million people watched (if truth be told, how many??) the crusade via television and social media platforms.”

Background and Broken Promises

Before 1991 Benny was already performing healing “crusades” to sold-out crowds in auditoriums and other churches, and soon thereafter, not just in America but in other countries around the world.

Inside Edition did an exposé about Hinn in 1993.  Hinn promised Trinity Foundation president Ole Anthony and Inside Edition cameras he would have medical verification of the healings before televising testimonials (he didn’t) and he said he would stop driving a Mercedes Benz and start driving a Honda (he didn’t).

He told his congregation “I think I’m going to stop preaching healing and start preaching Jesus.” (he didn’t) A month later he also said, “Preachers who live in big houses and drive big cars have to reexamine their calling.  Some of God’s saints lived in caves!”  (he never stopped living in mansions, either).

False Prophecies: Hinn made several unfulfilled prophecies during the 1990s, including predictions about the timing of Fidel Castro’s death and the destruction of the homosexual community in America.

After working undercover in Hinn’s ministry and conducting nighttime dumpster diving at his brother Chris Hinn’s travel agency, Trinity Foundation and Pete Evans assisted CNN with an exposé about Hinn in 1996-1997.

In April 2001, HBO aired a documentary entitled A Question of Miracles that focused on Hinn and another televangelist. The film’s director, Antony Thomas, said they did not find any cases where people were actually healed by Hinn (Wikipedia).

In November 2004, a a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) television show The Fifth Estate did a special titled “Do You Believe in Miracles” on the apparent transgressions committed by Hinn’s ministry.  In particular, the investigation highlighted the fact that the most desperate miracle seekers who attend a Hinn crusade—the quadriplegics, the brain-damaged, virtually anyone with a visibly obvious physical condition—are never allowed on stage (also cited by Wikipedia).

In 2002 and 2004, Trinity Foundation assisted Dateline NBC with exposés on Hinn, highlighting his ostentatious preaching/“healing” and his lavish lifestyle.

In 2017, Hinn’s nephew Costi Hinn criticized Benny’s prosperity gospel –the lavish mansions, the expensive cars, etc. and later came out with a book titled God, Greed, and the (Prosperity) Gospel with more details on the topic.

In September 2019, Benny Hinn said he no longer believed in prosperity theology and decided to stop teaching it. (he didn’t)

We have more to say about Hinn.  Next month’s Trinity Foundation video will focus on Hinn and we hope to unveil our “Vault” project with court documents, government reports, and documents we’ve found in the trash over the years.

Photo—Facebook: On May 26^th 2024 Ed Young (right) announces his son,

Ben Young as the next senior pastor of Second Baptist Church in Houston, Texas 

On Monday, April 15^th, 2025, Jeremiah Counsel Corporation (also “Jeremiah” in this article), a non profit formed by a group of concerned members and past members of Second Baptist Church, filed an unusual court petition in Judge Latosha Lewis Paynes’s District Court 55 against the current leadership of Second Baptist Church Houston requesting church governance reforms and restoration of members’ voting rights taken away in secret.

Defendents named in the 123 page petition are Ben Young, Homer Edwin Young, Lee Maxcy, Dennis Brewer Jr., and the Second Baptist Church Corporation, collectively called the “Young Group” throughout the filing.

Yesterday, Jeremiah Counsel Corporation issued a press release and an open letter to Second Baptist’s “90,000 +” members at large from its new website.

What Happened?  A Radical Change in church governance…

At a sparsely attended May 31, 2023 church business meeting, members in attendance either “unknowingly or unwittingly” rubber-stamped the church’s new regulations (its bylaws) without having the opportunity to inspect or read what they were being asked to approve, according to two letters signed by dozens of concerned members and sent directly to Pastor Ben Young months before the filing of this petition.

Section (H) of Jeremiah’s lawsuit gives examples of the “deliberately inconspicuous, legally insufficient, and intentionally vague” purported notices advising recipients of the May 31 membership meeting.  According to the petition, “These statements were part of an intentional plan to alert as few members as possible to the other purpose for this church meeting and to mislead those who did see the notices.”

Section (M) of the petition states, “only about 200 of Second Baptist’s 94,000 members attended on May 31” and that those at the meeting represented less than “one quarter of one percent” of Second Baptist’s members.

What does Plaintiff Jeremiah Counsel Corporation want?

 Typical lawsuits request pecuniary relief, often in the millions.  However, apart from legal fees, Jeremiah’s petition doesn’t ask for monetary damages to its members but rather requests a return to the Church’s 2005 bylaws and does request money damages for Second Baptist Church from the Young Group and injunctive relief to cease and desist all conduct or actions stemming from the May 31 bylaws “updates”.

Section (I) of the lawsuit details how Second Baptist trustees, who had met for church business only a few weeks prior to the meeting, were completely unaware of the severity of the bylaw’s changes, before, during, and even after the scantly attended May 31 meeting—changes that eliminated and replaced their own positions.

According to the lawsuit, the Young Group permanently abolished: “(1) church members’ rights to vote and elect, e.g., Second Baptists Pastor and officers, to the governing body of the church, (2) church members’ rights to inspect Second Baptist’s books, financial records, and governing documents, and to provide input on its financial direction and obligations, and (3) church members’ rights to provide input on church policies.” (wording bolded in the lawsuit, p. 15)

Continue reading “A Story of Power, Deceit, and Betrayal at Second Baptist Church: Members File Court Petition, Try to Save Church’s Legacy”

Most Christians don’t give it much thought and trust their leaders.  We tend to look to a pastor, priest, or whomever is in charge as the expert(s).  But members and donors have a responsibility to make sure their tithes and gifts are doing more than simply enriching the person or persons at the top.

Givers should, at a bare minimum, seek answers to: 1) Who governs the organization or church—a single individual with little or no accountability or an independent group of individuals such as a board of directors? 2) Where does the money go? Do they file a public form 990 or publish an audited financial statement?

Trinity Foundation has encountered all types of organizational and church governance (read our Governance Project) and while there is probably no “best” form, there are certain things members should look for and others to be wary of.  We’ve seen terrible examples over and over and can best describe the better leadership forms by what they are not.

Decades ago, we discovered televangelists and pastors had begun eliminating church member oversight and personal accountability.  We found that all decision-making power in a board of directors often consists of hand-picked family, friends, or employees.  We discovered that more and more pastors are consolidating power in their organizations and eliminating church member oversight.

The “smell factor”

If a certain pastor or ministry leader is living lavishly (any one of the following—a corporate jet, a mansion, multiple houses, a luxury car, etc.) this lifestyle begs the question—is this person more concerned about themselves or the gospel of Christ and others? Are they a lover of money?   When the smell is “off”, so to speak, donors need to start asking questions.

The pattern set forth in the gospels is one of servanthood and humility, not of “lording it over” congregations or members.  If it begins to smell foul, both the person and the organization deserve a closer look and some good-old-fashioned research.

Questions Donors Should Ask:

Does the leader regularly preach, teach, or advocate the life and teachings of Christ, including the cross?  The Apostle Paul said, “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”

Does the pastor or leader constantly refer to themselves, other than confession?

Is the church or ministry transparent?

How are your donations being used?  We can’t emphasize enough that churches and organizations should publish or make available financial documents illustrating how donor money is spent.  They should file the IRS form 990 or publish an audited financial statement on their website.

Do excess church funds simply accumulate to make the church wealthier, or do they help the poor, needy, distressed, and disadvantaged in the community?

Does the pastor or ministry leader’s family control how and where the money is spent?

Is there a group of people that hold the leader responsible, such as an independent board of elders, deacons, or board members?

Leadership Standards

Does the leader have integrity as defined by the Apostle Paul? (1^st Timothy, chapter 2) A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt at teaching; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; one who rules well his own house, having his children in subjection with all dignity.

 

Photos: 1) Nathan at Fellowship Church, 2)  Nathan with Executive Producer Chris Ayoub at Tarrant County Courthouse hearing

Religion Business documentary producer Nathan Apffel flew in from out of state and presented himself in a Tarrant County courtroom this morning, November 18, 2024, to face a criminal trespass charge.  The crime is considered a Class B misdemeanor and can be penalized with a fine of up to $2,000 or 180 days of jail time.

At the court hearing, Nathan’s dad, Ed Apffel, said, “I’m proud of having to bail my son Nathan out of jail for going to church.  The floodgates have opened for his documentary about the religion business.”

Sunday, October 20^th, Apffel was arrested at Fellowship Church in Grapevine Texas while holding up a large sign asking Pastor Ed Young to reveal the amount of his housing allowance.  Young’s security team included a zealous deputy sheriff who roughed up Mr. Apffel and forced him to get his elbow x-rayed and left bruises on his wrists from the handcuffs.

Fellowship Church security called in the Grapevine police and Apffel was charged with trespassing. “I wasn’t expecting so much brute force,” Apffel told Trinity Foundation investigators following his release from jail (initial article here).   During the incident, Nathan’s cameraman Steve Hickey’s camera was confiscated and damaged by security guards and Hickey received a trespass warning.  Apffel mentioned that the Grapevine police department treated him with kindness and respect, unlike the church’s security team.

Apffel’s hearing appearance today was only a first step of good faith to prevent a warrant being issued for his arrest and he will be required to return at least once more as the case against him proceeds.  His next court hearing is scheduled for December 17^th.

Filipino televangelist Apollo Quiboloy, another TV preacher masquerading as an angel of light, was finally arrested this week. But first some background.

He called himself the son of God. Unfortunately, thousands and perhaps millions of his followers believed him, even after he managed to get on the FBI’s most wanted list by accusations of having his own sex slaves and carting off loads of undeclared money out of the U.S. on his private jet.

After a two-week standoff, hiding in an underground bunker under the protection of his followers, he was arrested in the Philippines where he has hidden out for the past three years, avoiding extradition to the US under the presumed protection of the Filipino government.  He is currently being held in a heavily guarded detention center at the national police headquarters of the Philippines and the status of his extradition to the U.S. remains unclear.

Of course, these are allegations until proven in a court of law. Here’s some of what we do know. His jet was detained in Honolulu in February 2018 after U.S. customs officials discovered $350,000 of undeclared U.S. cash hidden on his jet destined for the Philippines.  One of Quiboloy’s loyal followers took the fall by telling officials it was her own money.

Also, we know of an “immigration fraud scheme where (top) church officials allegedly coerced some members into sham marriages (82 of them between 1999 and 2019) to keep them in the United States to raise money for the church’s expensive projects and to fund the “lavish lifestyle” of its leader.”  These officials were arrested in Los Angeles in January 2020.

Moreover, almost simultaneously, U.S. “federal authorities raided several churches and homes in Hawaii and on the mainland Wednesday connected to controversial Filipino evangelist Apollo Quiboloy as part of a massive human trafficking and immigration fraud investigation” (Hawaii News Now, January 30, 2020).

The Filipino news media outlet Rappler chronicled Quiboloy related events starting with temporary detainment in Honolulu in 2018, continuing with disturbing and chilling testimony about him to the Filipino Senate, and ending with his arrest this week.

This past March, Rappler began publication “of its investigative series on the multi-million properties linked to Quiboloy and the KOJC in the United States and Canada. Four of the currently owned properties have a total estimated value of US $9.07 million (P503 million.) If the property sold in 2018 is included, the total value would go up to $10.83 million (P601 million).”

Unfortunately, Quiboloy is not alone by a longshot.  Quiboloy’s masquerade is common among televangelists.  By creating a false persona as this son-of-God, his edicts go unchallenged by his followers.

Photo: Apollo Quiboloy screen capture by Medium, an online analysis of Quiboloy’s claim to be the son of God

Name your televangelist!  Some other televangelists we investigate that are masquerading as men of God that deserve to be placed in a hall of shame for various other reasons are Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Gene Ewing, Jesse Duplantis, and a plethora of other religious leaders.

These are guys that are more interested in what God can do for them and by extension, what YOU can do for them with your donor money, rather than living their lives for God and others.

Their self-seeking reveals the plan of God by showing what it’s not. The plan or mystery of God is about self-giving, not self-serving.