NATION : Bakker Bonus, PTL Loss Described
PTL continued giving Jim Bakker fat bonuses even while it was losing money, the ministry’s former finance director testified today.
“We’re spending as if there’s no crisis,” Peter Bailey, the former finance director, said in a 1984 memo to Bakker and PTL Executive Vice President Richard Dortch, who was indicted with Bakker and pleaded guilty.
Bailey testified that he told Bakker in November, 1983, that contributions for that month totaled $4.7 million while expenditures were $6.8 million. Two weeks later, prosecutor Deborah Smith said, the board voted a $150,000 bonus for Jim and Tammy Bakker.
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