PTL’s Jim Bakker Indicted for Bilking His Followers : His Top Aide Also Cited on 24 Counts

A federal grand jury today indicted PTL founder Jim Bakker and his top aide for fraud and conspiracy and accused two other figures in the television ministry of income tax evasion.

Bakker, 48, who was forced to give up his PTL religious ministry amid a sex scandal and alleged financial improprieties, and former top aide Richard Dortch were charged in a 24-count indictment with mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiring to defraud the public through the sale of lifetime partnerships in the ministry’s Heritage Village theme park.

Bakker’s wife, Tammy Faye, also a target of the grand jury, was not indicted.

Taggarts Indicted

A second indictment of 11 counts charged former PTL Vice President David Taggart and his brother, James, with tax evasion and conspiracy to impede the Internal Revenue Service in the collection of taxes.

The criminal charges capped a 16-month investigation and represented the latest setback for Bakker, who until last year ran the multimillion-dollar religious empire PTL--which stands for Praise The Lord or People That Love.

The maximum penalty for each count of mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion is a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in prison.

Bakker resigned as head of his South Carolina-based ministry in March, 1987, after admitting that he had sex with church secretary Jessica Hahn in a Florida motel in 1980 and that ministry funds were paid to silence her.

175,000 Lifetime Partners

Bakker’s charismatic theology, displayed on nightly television broadcasts carried nationwide by cable and independent stations, drew about 175,000 “lifetime partners,” whose contributions formed PTL’s support base.

The lavish life style of Bakker and his wife caught the attention of federal investigators, who questioned whether PTL was a legitimate tax-exempt religious ministry.

PTL, headquartered in Ft. Mills, S.C., where it also operates the Heritage theme park, said it was $71 million in debt when it filed for bankruptcy last year.

The indictment charged that Bakker and Dortch diverted PTL funds for their own benefit.

Bakker and his wife obtained bonuses of nearly $3.5 million, and Dortch got $550,000, while they concealed the true financial condition of PTL from its board of directors, according to the indictment. The indictment charged that Bakker and his associate made false statements to induce the public to buy the lifetime partnerships, promising annual vacations at the theme park.

‘I Will Rot in Prison’

More than $158 million was raised, but the money was not used as promised to build lodging facilities at the park, the indictment alleged.

The Taggarts were accused of diverting $1.1 million in PTL funds to pay personal bills and expenses while failing to report the funds as income on their 1983 through 1987 tax returns. David Taggart was a special assistant to Bakker as PTL vice president, and James Taggart is a former interior designer for PTL.

Bakker acknowledged during a sermon Sunday to a congregation of several hundred at a skating rink in Charlotte that he may face time in prison.

“I will rot in prison before I hurt my brothers. I do not have a chance for a fair trial any more than a snowball has of lasting you know where,” he said.

“Drug dealers are going scot-free in this country, but they want to put a preacher in prison for 40 years,” said Bakker, who has been battling in court to get back his PTL ministry.