The Nation - News from March 10, 1988

A federal appeals court called a temporary halt to the Internal Revenue Service’s attempt to revoke the tax exempt status of the bankrupt PTL ministry. Attorneys for PTL had appealed a ruling earlier this week by U.S. District Judge Karen Henderson that cleared the way for the revocation. The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals stayed Henderson’s ruling, according to R. Bradford Leggett, the Winston-Salem, N.C., attorney for PTL. The move came as the IRS was poised to move on the ruling--an action almost certain to deepen the financial crisis of the troubled ministry. On Monday, Henderson overturned a preliminary injunction issued in December by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Rufus Reynolds at the request of PTL Trustee David Clark. Reynolds blocked the IRS from acting until May 1, 1988, when PTL’s financial reorganization plan will be implemented.