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Your tips have aided our investigations, your interviews have educated the public regarding religious fraud and your donations have financed our work.

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Year in Review

After Trinity Foundation founder Ole Anthony died in 2021, several documentary filmmakers contacted Trinity Foundation regarding the possibility of making a documentary about Ole’s life and our investigations. The project is currently on hold.

In March, Discovery+, the online platform of the Discovery Network, premiered the documentary Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed. The third episode featured Trinity Foundation staff investigator Barry Bowen discussing Hillsong’s use of limited liability companies and accumulation of property in Maricopa County, Arizona.

Following the online premier, Trinity Foundation published the article The Dangerous Legal Structures of Hillsong Church. The documentary and our original reporting led to an ABC (Australia) interview and appearances on several podcasts including Leaving Hillsong.

Continue reading “Year in Review: Where Your Donations Go”

Note: This is the second article in a series examining financial records and receipts for pastors and religious organizations. Future articles will explore travel expenses, per diem expenses and fundraising.

In 2019 an audit of Fellowship Church, one of America’s largest multi-site megachurches pastored by Ed Young Jr., uncovered financial crimes. Two years later, church financial administrator Lara Ford pled guilty to embezzling more than $1 million.

Ford used Automated Clearing House to transfer at least $363,834 from the church’s Allaso Ranch account and $324,313 from another church account to her personal bank accounts. The thefts were disguised as payments to vendors and refunds for children unable to attend the church camp.

Ford’s crimes are described as fraudulent disbursements.

These crimes are easy to disguise. By creating fake invoices, a dishonest church administrator can manufacture a paper trail to cover his or her theft of church funds.

How common are these crimes?

Occupational Fraud 2022: A Report to the Nations, a report from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners based on an examination of more than 2,000 cases of financial fraud in 133 nations, estimated on average “organizations lose 5% of revenue to fraud each year.”

The report noted, “Financial statement fraud schemes are the least common but most costly.”

Examples of financial statement fraud schemes include billing shell companies for fictitious expenses, falsifying wages and submitting duplicate receipts for the same expense.

The Small Church Pastor Submitting Duplicate Receipts

Pastor Don Galardi lived in a modest home and drove an old truck. The outside world and church congregation would not expect the pastor of engaging in improper financial activities.

Continue reading “Hiding Crimes with Invoices and Receipts: Deceptively Paid with Reimbursements”

(Pastor Kenneth Copeland praying at Trump Rally for Dr. Oz.)

This weekend Pastor Planes, the Trinity Foundation jet tracking project, observed a couple of interesting televangelist flights. During our investigations we look for flights with little to no ministry purpose.

On Saturday, November 5th, Kenneth Copeland flew from Fort Worth Alliance Airport to Palm Beach International Airport aboard his church’s Gulfstream G5 jet.

(Photo: ADSB Exchange tracking map of Copeland’s Gulfstream G5 identified with tail number N1967J.)

Then Copeland and Paula White-Cain flew to Arnold Palmer Regional Airport outside Pittsburgh for a Donald Trump political rally where Copeland prayed.  From all appearances, the televangelists flew aboard Donald Trump’s Boeing 757 jet to the rally on Saturday.

During the Sunday morning service, Paula told her congregation about the flight which included many important people.

(Photo: ADSB Exchange tracking map of Trump’s jet with tail number N757AF.)

Trump promoted Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz during the rally. After Trump’s jet returned to Palm Beach International Airport, Copeland flew back to Fort Worth.

Should pastors participate in campaign rallies where politicians are endorsed?

According to Trinity Foundation President Pete Evans, enforcement of the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits non-profit organizations from endorsing or opposing candidates, has been virtually ignored by the Exempt Organizations Division of the IRS with regard to religious organizations.  Evans says, “No matter what your political bent, Kenneth Copeland and Paula White-Cain are thumbing their noses at this law and the IRS.”

Such political events raise important questions: Did Copeland’s church jet flight to Florida have a ministry purpose? If not, did Copeland reimburse the church for travel expenses? Should the jet’s tax exempt status be revoked.

The Eagle Mountain International Church (which also operates with the trade name Kenneth Copeland Ministries) purchased the Gulfstream G5 jet from actor Tyler Perry in 2017. The church previously purchased a Citation X (Cessna 750) jet in 2005. Currently the two jets are based at Fort Worth Alliance Airport rather than Kenneth Copeland Airport.

In a 2007 filing with the Tarrant County Appraisal District, Copeland’s church listed the Cessna Citation X as “reasonably necessary for worship.”

Norman Quintero, CEO of TeleAmerica Television Network and Senior Pastor of Iglesia Getsemani in Anaheim, California, has sued Benny Hinn, Hinn-associate Donald B. Price and publicist Ronn Torossian for defamation. Hinn was served the lawsuit while speaking during a “Miracle Service.”  The exchange can be viewed on YouTube.

In a lawsuit filed in Superior Court Orange County, California, Quintero alleges that Price published a website “to destroy Dr. Quintero’s personal reputation.” According to the lawsuit, “The Website states, or at least implies, that Dr. Quintero has been convicted on criminal charges. The statement is false.”

While the offending website norman-quintero.com is now offline, a backup copy of the website can be viewed at the Internet Archive.

Price, a loyal officer at Benny Hinn Ministries, also runs eMinistries Consulting and Family Altar of the Air.

Meanwhile, the lawsuit lacks many details on Hinn’s alleged role in the defamation.  Hinn’s alleged role will probably surface during court testimony.

The court battles began in 2021, with Price suing Quintero in Dallas County Court “for tortious interference with contract, tortious interference with prospective contract, defamation, and business disparagement, stemming from a failed real estate transaction,” as one court filing summarizes the case.

The case took a quick detour in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas before being remanded to the lower court because of a question about Quintero’s residency.

However, the court may have questioned the wrong person’s residency. Price’s lawsuit says, “Plaintiff, Donald B. Price, is an individual residing in Dallas County, Texas.”

Trinity Foundation investigators, which are based in Dallas, searched Dallas County Appraisal District and found zero evidence of Price residing in Dallas County. Why would Price live in Dallas, when his “ministry” Family Altar of the Air owns a 14,500 square-foot mansion worth $6 million a short distance away in Collin County?

Family Altar of the Air also owns a Florida mansion worth over $4 million.

Just how many homes does Price and his organizations own? Is this good stewardship?

Perhaps these “ministry” leaders should sell an extra home to fund their ministry rather than rely on the generosity of donors.

 

Missing money is a big red flag for investigators. So, let’s examine the Form 990s filed by televangelist Juanita Bynum’s new non-profit organization which was incorporated in 2016.

But first, a math quiz: Zero minus zero equals …

For 2016, The Juanita Bynum II Ministry Inc (That’s the official ministry name) reported zero total assets and zero liabilities. Subtracting zero from zero yielded an amazing answer: $163,854 in net assets.

What happened to net assets in 2017? They disappeared.

For 2017, the ministry reported total revenue of $383,272 and total expenses of $242,450 resulting in a surplus of $140,822 which disappeared with the net assets reported from the previous year.

For 2018, the ministry reported total revenue of $639,280 and total expenses of $399,139 resulting in a surplus of $240,141 which also disappeared.

At the end of 2018, the non-profit organization reported zero net assets.

The IRS should conduct an audit to determine where the $544,817 in unreported surpluses went.

Zero Accountability

Another troubling issue was noticed while reviewing the 990s. On page one of each 990, the ministry reports zero board members. There is zero accountability for the organization.

 

 

 

 

((Photo: Pictured is Joel Osteen’s Texas residence. Joel Osteen’s 2nd home is located in Newport Coast, California, 1,175 nautical miles away from Houston where he pastors Lakewood Church.)

One of our goals at Trinity Foundation is to engage in explanatory journalism.

According to Wikipedia, “Explanatory journalism or explanatory reporting is a form of reporting that attempts to present ongoing news stories in a more accessible manner by providing greater context than would be presented in traditional news sources.”

We seek to explain the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How questions.

After publishing an article in February about million-dollar pastor mansions, we continued to perform property searches and have uncovered many examples of pastors living in luxury.

Several patterns were observed during this investigation. We noticed pastors acquiring homes hundreds of miles from their churches. How can these pastors effectively serve a congregation when they live so far away?

Some pastors lead churches in different states, traveling by jet between multiple homes. Is this practice good stewardship?

Our article about Long Distance Ministry will be published next week. These investigations take time and money. We subscribe to various databases to conduct nation-wide property searches.

Today, September 22nd, is North Texas Giving Day. Thousands of people are giving to favorite charities. We are thankful for all donations given to Trinity Foundation. They help us more than you will ever know.

North Texas Giving Day Support …

We are a public, non-profit 501 (C) 3 organization and can only continue with your help.  You can donate here.   Please consider monthly support of our investigations.

Our finances have shrunk lately and we could use your help.

Thanks,

From the folks at Trinity Foundation

In the name of privacy, laws often protect devious administrators working inside religious non-profit organizations and churches. Journalists and concerned donors are denied access to critical government information.

Let’s look at three examples.

• Money Trail Not Available

During the Great Depression, religious book publisher Zondervan launched a small Christian bookstore. The little retail business went through several name changes and grew into America’s largest religious bookstore chain, Family Christian Stores.

Marketplace changes, brought about by digital song downloads from Apple and book sales through Amazon, resulted in Family Christian’s sales declining.

In 2013, as Family Christian Stores reorganized to form a non-profit organization, Family Christian TR, LLC was registered in the island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, famous for its offshore banking. Two years later, Family Christian filed for bankruptcy and the financial trust ceased operation.

Family Christian’s bankruptcy hurt numerous publishers of books, CDs and DVDs as the organization failed to pay distributors for product.

Is it possible that some revenues, which would have compensated distributers, were embezzled and then transferred to the aforementioned account as a tax haven?

Meanwhile, unconfirmed allegations of money laundering by deceased televangelists also persist.

There may exist a paper trail providing evidence of financial crimes. Banks are required to report customers making deposits of $10,000 or more in cash. However, these Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) are protected by the Bank Secrecy Act and cannot be obtained by Freedom of Information Act requests.

Congress could amend the Bank Secrecy Act to allow journalists to submit FOIA requests to the Treasury Department for SAR of deceased individuals and companies no longer in operation.

Continue reading “Privacy Laws Prevent Financial Transparency, Hurt Efforts to Investigate Religious Fraud”