TBN Founder Paul Crouch Died. Or Was He Killed?

Mr. Crouch, who belonged to the Assemblies of God, had been trying to spread the Gospel through a small television station in Tustin, Calif., but the vision changed his business plan. He bought more television stations, then piled on cable channels and eventually satellites until he had built the world’s largest Christian television system — the Trinity Broadcasting Network, or TBN.

The son of a poor missionary, Mr. Crouch was known for preaching a gospel of prosperity. His twice-yearly Praise-a-Thons on TBN generated as much as $90 million a year in donations, mostly in small amounts from lower-income Americans.

“When you give to God,” Mr. Crouch said in a typical appeal, “you’re simply loaning to the Lord and he gives it right on back.”

But he also faced criticism over lavish spending of the millions of dollars in donations collected through the network. Last year, his granddaughter accused the network of financial improprieties, and her father, Paul Crouch Jr., was forced off the staff.

The granddaughter, Brittany Koper, and her husband have been fired by the network, which accused them of stealing $1.3 million to buy real estate and cars and make family loans. “They’re just trying to divert attention from their own crimes,” said Colby May, a lawyer representing TBN. Janice and Paul Crouch declined requests for interviews.

Mr. and Mrs. Crouch have his-and-her mansions one street apart in a gated community here, provided by the network using viewer donations and tax-free earnings. But Mrs. Crouch, 74, rarely sleeps in the $5.6 million house with tennis court and pool. She mostly lives in a large company house near Orlando, Fla., where she runs a side business, the Holy Land Experience theme park. Mr. Crouch, 78, has an adjacent home there too, but rarely visits. Its occupant is often a security guard who doubles as Mrs. Crouch’s chauffeur.

But scandals continue. A former TBN Employee alleges gay tryst With Paul Crouch, which TBN boss paid $425,000 to silence the claims, but the accuser now wants $10 million.

First, extortion seems like the only word to describe what Enoch Lonnie Ford, the former TBN employee who says he and Crouch had extramarital sex in 1996, attempted. Crouch paid him a $425,000 settlement in 1998 after Ford accused the global network of wrongful termination. Key to the settlement, of course, was a secrecy agreement. Last April, however, Ford handed Crouch an autobiographical manuscript detailing his claims of a sexual encounter. The Times reports:

Ford’s lawyer later told ministry officials that they could keep the work out of public view by buying the rights. After some discussion, he suggested that $10 million might be a reasonable price. … Ford’s attorney, Eugene Zech, said [TBN attorney Dennis G. Brewer Sr.] called him the next business day [after Ford gave Crouch the manuscript]. In court papers, Zech said that Brewer asked “if Ford might be willing to accept $1 million in exchange for the manuscript.” Zech said in the court filing that he suggested $10 million.

$10 million! Simon & Schuster paid Hillary Clinton only $8 million for her memoir, Living History. GE chairman Jack Welch got $7 million for Straight from the Gut. That number isn’t about a book—it’s about keeping Ford’s story “out of the public view”—something Crouch had already paid $425,000 expressly to do.

TBN yesterday issued a statement explaining the settlement. It says, in part:

In an effort to address this matter in 1997, Dr. Crouch sought the advice and counsel of some trusted advisers, attorneys and spiritual leaders. The consensus viewpoint was that it would be better for TBN and Dr. Crouch to reach a financial settlement rather than to fight the accuser in court. This course of action was deemed less expensive and would avoid the bad publicity, time and effort that it would take to fight the false claims. Dr. Crouch reluctantly agreed to this advice with the understanding that the accuser would go away and leave both he and TBN alone forever. The importance of the settlement does not rest on the money paid, but rather on Dr. Crouch’s vehement denial of the allegations made against him as well as the agreement of the accuser to keep confidential and refrain from repeating his false claims and accusations. Most importantly, at no time were ministry funds used in any portion of this settlement.

In fact the following photo sums-up Paul’s answer to the extortion. To which he quite hotly added, “You’re not getting one cent! No, not one cent”

I can’t help but wonder if the extravagant spending scandals, which incidentally also included the rumor that Paul and Jan were divorced, then the gay affair, didn’t extract the ultimate toll on Mr. Crouch. The gay tryst seems to have angered Mr. Crouch the most. I mean, seriously, we have a man of God flipping someone off ON AIR for the world to see? Was this accusation the final straw that ultimately KILLED him?

What do you think?