PTL’s Offices Bugged, Some Papers Missing

The executive offices of the scandal-rocked PTL ministry were bugged and some documents are missing, the ministry said Friday as it began laying off 200 employees to deal with a debt now calculated at $65 million.

“Who bugged the building? We don’t know,” said Harry Hargrave, who was appointed PTL’s chief financial officer a month after founder Jim Bakker turned the ministry over to the Rev. Jerry Falwell on March 19.

“At this point in time, we have more problems than who bugged the building,” Hargrave said, referring to the debt and the layoffs.

Discovered in Sweep

The bugging device, discovered in an electronic sweep of the offices, was removed Tuesday.

Any room or telephone conversation in the building, known as the World Outreach Center in Heritage USA, could be monitored by dialing a telephone number from anywhere in the world, Hargrave said at a news conference. “You could listen to anything you wanted to,” he said.

The missing documents are construction purchase orders, invoices and internal memoranda on the organization’s structure, Hargrave said.

Mark DeMoss, a spokesman for Falwell, said he doubts that PTL officials will pursue the question of who bugged the offices. “Dr. Falwell, the new board and these men are not interested in dwelling in the past,” he said.

‘Surprise From All Camps’

Asked whether Bakker or his wife, Tammy Faye, were aware of the bugging, Jerry Nims, chief executive officer and chairman of PTL’s executive committee, replied: “I have only heard surprise from all camps.”

Nims said a review of paper work shows the ministry’s debt at $65 million.

The 200 layoffs will save the ministry $1.2 million a month, Hargrave said. If the salary bonuses cancelled by Falwell when he took over are included, the savings increase to about $1.7 million, he said.

Three consultants whose combined fees were $20,000 to $30,000 a month are among those taken off the payroll, he said.

Some of the laid-off workers were ministers and counselors, but Hargrave said he had no breakdown.

Workers Totaled 1,480

Before the layoffs, the ministry had 1,480 workers in its hotel, theme park, television production and ministry, Hargrave said.

Bakker resigned from the TV ministry after admitting having a sexual encounter with Jessica Hahn, a church secretary. Richard Dortch, the former president of PTL, resigned at the same time, and it later was disclosed that he helped negotiate a financial settlement with Miss Hahn in return for her silence.

Earlier this week, Bakker and Dortch were dismissed as ministers of the Springfield, Mo.-based Assemblies of God for “conduct unbecoming to a minister.” The church said Bakker also was involved in “alleged misconduct involving bisexual activity.”