Trinity Foundation

Today is National Whistleblower Day.

Whistleblowers perform a valuable, but poorly understood, service for humanity by exposing crimes and misconduct in multiple ways:

1. Privately and publicly confronting business, religious and political leaders who’ve abused their power.
2. Filing criminal charges.
3. Providing tips to law enforcement.
4. Providing tips or interviews to journalists.
5. Suing the perpetrators.
6. Writing first-hand accounts in blog posts and books telling the story of their experiences of abuse and eye-witness accounts of fraud.
7. Telling their stories in podcasts and documentaries.
8. Helping other victims recover from similar experiences.

The whistleblowers’ actions expose sin, demand justice and educate the public.

Ephesians 5:11 provides a biblical mandate for whistleblowing and investigative reporting: “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”

On this National Whistleblower Day, Trinity Foundation would like to thank every public whistleblower and anonymous informant that has contacted us. Your tips help us investigate church and ministry corruption.

According to Stephen Martin Kohn, founder of the National Whistleblower Center, and author of The New Whistleblower’s Handbook, tipsters uncover more fraud than professional auditors and law enforcement combined.

We would also like to thank our donors for your support. You’ve equipped us to serve the public for more than three decades as a religious watchdog and third-party whistleblower.

We are currently working on several big investigations and look forward to sharing them with you when the time is right.

Three ex-con televangelists, including one now deceased, all have compared themselves to the Apostle Paul of the early church… you be the judge.

Tony Alamo AP Photo, Evan Lewis, November 13, 2009

Tony Alamo is dead

Tony Alamo’s boring half hour program currently is broadcast three times weekly on the Word Network: Tuesday’s at 7:30 pm and Thursdays at 3:30 am and 11:30 pm.

Alamo once lived in a lavish, 13,064-square foot mansion with a heart-shaped swimming pool; his ministry once had thousands of followers; and he operated many for-profit businesses.  One of his businesses sold custom-made sequined jackets to celebrities such as Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, and Mr. T., but that was before he was convicted of income tax evasion and “marrying” underage girls.

He was sentenced to prison twice—175 years the second time in November 2009.

Mr. Alamo was accused of taking young girls across state lines for sex and arrested in October 2008. Five women ranging from age 17 to 33 told jurors that Alamo “married” them in private ceremonies while they were minors, sometimes giving them wedding rings. Each described trips beyond Arkansas’ borders for Alamo’s sexual gratification.[1]

Alamo believed that young girls were fit for marriage. “Consent is puberty,” he told The Associated Press in 2008.[2]  A CNN news clip of his arrest includes audio of Alamo stating that women as young as twelve are ready for marriage as soon as they start their period.[3]

“I’m just another one of the prophets that went to jail for the Gospel,” Alamo called out to reporters afterward as he was escorted to a waiting U.S. marshal’s vehicle.[4]

A jury convicted Alamo in July 2009 of 10 counts spanning 11 years and on November 13, 2009, federal Judge Harry F. Barnes sentenced him to the maximum on each count, for a total of 175 years in prison.[5]

He died in a federal prison hospital in North Carolina in May 2017.

More of Alamo’s Legal Encounters

The Southern Poverty Law Center reported that “Alamo was arrested on a felony child abuse charge in 1989, but it was dismissed six years later. The case involved an 11-year-old boy who was given 140 blows at Alamo’s directions for minor academic infractions. His family later filed suit and won a $1.4 million judgment against Alamo and his ministry.”[6]

Federal agents raided his properties in 1991 when he owed $7.9 million in taxes.  He was convicted in 1994 of income tax evasion, served four years in prison, was released in 1998, and went back to his Arkansas-based ministry.

In addition to the criminal convictions, Alamo was found liable in a federal civil trial and ordered to pay $30 million to two men who were raised in the controversial Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. A jury found that those two men were beaten, starved, and denied education and found Alamo liable for conspiracy, outrage and battery.[7]

Another civil judgement was even more telling.  Seven women who were victims of physical and sexual abuse brought civil suits, resulting in a $525 million judgment, the largest in Arkansas history.[8]

Continue reading “Word Network Airs Dead Convicted Statutory Rapist Tony Alamo and Other Ex-Cons, Jim Whittington, and WV Grant”

Barry Bowen and Pete Evans

(Time to read: 20+ minutes)

(Photo: INSP logo appearing in network promo.)After many years of investigating The Inspirational Network and its CEO David Cerullo, reviewing 21 years of the non-profit’s Form 990 filings with the IRS, conducting numerous corporation searches for related entities, watching INSP cable TV programming, and monitoring private jets used by the Cerullo family, we still have more questions than answers.

In 2009, the Charlotte Observer reported, “With compensation exceeding $1.5 million a year, Cerullo is the best-paid leader of any religious charity tracked by watchdog groups.”

Fourteen years later, Cerullo retains the position of highest paid executive in MinistryWatch’s 100 Highly Paid Ministry Executives list.

Over the past decade, Trinity Foundation, Inc. (TFI) investigators have examined hundreds of Form 990 informational returns of religious non-profits and have found no one that received more compensation in one year than Cerullo in 2019: $7 million.

The staggering compensation motivated TFI to dig deeper to attempt to follow the advertising revenue money but were thwarted by a confusing web of financial disclosures, Delaware corporations, LLC’s with scant information, etc.

To be fair, the highly successful TV network says it does in fact report and pay its share of corporate taxes on its TV ad revenue.

Yet for almost ten years, The Inspirational Network, Inc. has declined to report advertising revenue on 990s earned by its for-profit subsidiaries and in fact claims it is not required to.

Why this would matter if they weren’t paying corporate taxes: Non-profit organizations are required to report unrelated business income over $1,000 on a Form 990-T and pay taxes on this income. Before 2018, the tax on unrelated business income ranged from 15 to 35 percent. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 changed the new tax rate to 21 percent.

A for-profit subsidiary of The Inspirational Network, Inc. can separately pay taxes on advertising revenue, but these subsidiaries must be listed as a related organization on The Inspirational Network 990s—and Cerullo’s non-profit currently fails to disclose that INSP, LLC is a related organization.

Continue reading “Secular in the Daytime, Prosperity Gospel at Night; How Religious Non-Profit Network INSP Became a TV Ratings Phenomenon”

On Friday, ProPublica published a large batch of Form 990s, the informational return non-profits file with the IRS. Some of the latest 990s show a disturbing trend of excessive compensation at large media ministries. For example, Glory of Zion International’s 990 reveals more than $4 million were paid to the Pierce family. Trinity Foundation will disclose more examples in future articles.

During Covid, the IRS fell far behind in processing the 990s which disclose total revenue, total expenses, compensation for non-profit executives, and other information helpful for donors analyzing the effectiveness of American charities.

When MinistryWatch published its latest Highly Compensated Ministry Executives list in January, Apostle Chuck Pierce was ranked 4th due to receiving $1,774,051 in compensation during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021. Pierce would rank 3rd based on the new 990 which discloses $2,084,437 in compensation.

(Screenshot: Charles “Chuck” Pierce preaching.)

Congress created a tax penalty for non-profit organizations that provide excessive compensation to employees. Pierce exploits a loophole in the law which exempts clergy from the excise tax. Page 5 line 15 of the 990 shows the ministry is not subject to the 4960 excise tax on excessive compensation which is defined as compensation of more than $1 million.

(Spreadsheet: Pierce family compensation compiled from 990 for fiscal year ending March 31, 2022.)

Trinity Foundation encourages donors to boycott non-profit organizations paying exorbitant salaries to executives.

(Photo: The Word Network appeals primarily to African American audiences.)

The United States has filed a lawsuit in federal court, attempting to seize  Word Network president Kevin Adell’s $4.4 million Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-home, alleging the radio and TV broadcaster owes almost $18 million in estate and gift taxes, following the death of his father, Franklin Adell in 2006.

The case has received little news coverage outside of Michigan. The Detroit Free Press and Crain’s Detroit Business have covered the story. Journalists reporting on Adell’s legal problems have missed a bigger story: Adell has exploited a loophole in the law, crafted for churches, to avoid disclosing millions of dollars in compensation.

Who is Kevin Adell?

(Screenshot: Kevin Adell being interviewed following Novi city council approval to build the Adell Center.)

Kevin Adell is a broadcaster and serial entrepreneur involved in commercial real estate development. In addition to operating The Word Network, Adell owns talk radio station WFDF and WADL-TV, but not for much longer, as the pending sale of the TV station was announced May 17^th  and Wikipedia reports the sale price at $75 million.

Adell constructed the $125 million Adell Center, a business complex in Novi, Michigan, featuring restaurants, shops and indoor skydiving.

Adell also owns a massive car collection. In 2019, Hagerty Media revealed that Adell had a “fleet of 100 or so automobiles—plus one special tractor.”  Adell is reportedly the only American owner of a Lamborghini Nitro 130 T4i tractor.

Adell’s collection features iconic vehicles from TV shows and movies. According to Hagerty, Adell “owns one Batmobile, one Bat motorcycle, the General Lee Dodge Charger from ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ (minus its rebel flag), Burt Reynolds’ Trans Am from ‘Smokey and the Bandit,’ and the faux Ferrari 250GT California Spyder launched off a balcony in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.'”

The Lawsuit

The case United States of America v. Adell et al was filed on April 24^th. According to the complaint, when Franklin Adell died, he left a “gross estate valued at $32,930,891.”

The lawsuit alleges that Kevin Adell owes $9,775,326.65 in unpaid estate taxes and $8,178,714.47 in unpaid gift taxes. The lawsuit claims, “Kevin Adell dissipated the Adell Estate’s assets and knowingly and willfully failed to pay the estate tax liabilities the Adell Estate owed to the United States.”

Continue reading “Lawsuit: Religious TV Executive Owes Almost $18 Million in Taxes; Media Misses Bigger Picture”

The Holy Land Experience, one of America’s largest biblical theme parks, lies in ruins, after Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) spent more than $130 million on the project.

AdventHealth purchased the Orlando property from TBN in 2021 for $32 million. According to Orlando TV station WESH, AdventHealth submitted plans to build a hospital on the site.

(Photo: Theme Park before demolition began. Screenshot from video by Steve Ronin.)

Demolition is currently underway.  Adam, host of TheDailyWoo YouTube channel, recently visited Holy Land Experience, and documented the theme park’s destruction.

Expenses from Purchasing and Operating Holy Land Theme Park

Religion News Blog reported in 2007 that TBN spent $37 million to acquire Holy Land Experience. The purchase involved three financial transactions: TBN paid off an $8 million loan from Grace Foundation to Holy Land Ministries, spent $12 million to acquire land from Sola Scriptura and donated $17 million to Master’s Gate Foundation.

According to Trinity Foundation informants, The Holy Land Experience became TBN co-founder Jan Crouch’s pet project. Jan oversaw remodels and new exhibits as the theme park produced Broadway-style musicals.

Continue reading “The Walls Came Tumbling Down: Holy Land Theme Park Demolished After TBN Spent $130 Million on Pet Project”

Australian megachurch Hillsong, facing leadership scandals and allegations of financial misdeeds, has embraced a defense strategy remarkably like American televangelists facing investigations and court challenges.

Hillsong’s responses to allegations can be summarized as …

1. Deny problems exist.
2. Create churches as limited liability companies as part of a risk containment strategy. Individual churches are overseen by managers.
3. Threaten to sue critics.
4. After indisputable evidence emerges, confess, or admit that mistakes have been made.
5. Request prayer for fallen leaders.
6. Acquire expert legal advice.
7. Make personnel and board changes.
8. Experts release a report denying systemic problems exist.

Hillsong History

In 1983, Brian Houston founded Hills Christian Life Centre. The church would become Hillsong.

Actions taken by Houston more than twenty years ago still haunt the organization. In 1999, Houston learned his father Frank Houston had committed sexual abuse of children but failed to report the criminal behavior to law enforcement. Houston is currently on trial for the failure to report, with a decision expected this year.

In 2019, Hillsong threatened to sue news media for publishing articles critical of Houston:

“Much of this commentary is factually incorrect and highly defamatory, and we call on the media and others to immediately stop making these spurious claims. We have directed our lawyers to review several articles that have published untrue and defamatory claims that smear Pastor Brian’s reputation as a Christian leader. Furthermore, we remind those who seek to spread rumours and baseless information via social media that these comments may also be subject to a defamation action.”

Houston embraced the prosperity gospel and in 2000 he authored the book You Need More Money.

Hillsong began to expand internationally. In 2010, Hillsong Ministries USA, Inc. was incorporated. The articles of incorporation stated, “The Corporation shall have no members.”

On the advice of attorneys such as Stephen Lentz, the father of Carl Lentz, Hillsong would form affiliated churches in America as limited liability companies (LLCs).  Stephen Lentz is a leading advocate for churches to use LLCs as part of a risk containment strategy and describes this strategy in his book The Business of Church.

In 2020, Hillsong fired celebrity pastor Carl Lentz who led the church’s New York City congregation. After the firing, Houston responded, “I’m acknowledging that mistakes have been made and that there are things where we need to get far better, much better. I’m not shrinking back from that.”

Continue reading “Church Defense Strategy: Hillsong Responds to Allegations and Government Investigation”