Nothing makes me more angry than "men of the cloth" (women too) who use their positions to prey on others, sexually or monetarily.
What can be more heinous (except of course, kiddy-diddlers) then someone who preaches for the lord while stealing, self-aggrandizing or fooling around with others, all in the name of the Lord, of course.
If there is a hell, then there must be a special place for them in the hereafter.
Also its not just Christian mega-churches either.
Some recent notable examples.Sex Scandal Hits Atlanta Megachurch
Time Magazine (DECATUR, Ga.) — The 80-year-old leader of a suburban Atlanta megachurch is at the center of a sex scandal of biblical dimensions: He slept with his brother's wife and fathered a child by her.
Members of Archbishop Earl Paulk's family stood at the pulpit of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit at Chapel Hill Harvester Church a few Sundays ago and revealed the secret exposed by a recent court-ordered paternity test.
More here: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1685950,00.html
Pastor defends spending
John Tedesco and Abe Levy, San Antonio Express-News
Pastor Rick Godwin took the stage at his popular church Saturday and said a newspaper article presented an inaccurate financial picture of Eagle's Nest Christian Fellowship.
But Godwin acknowledged the church might have spent too much on gifts for church leaders and on charter planes.
He said the church is temporarily halting charter travel for him and other members, and he told the congregation the church has hired a law firm to review expenditures.
It was Godwin's first public appearance at Eagle's Nest after the San Antonio Express-News raised questions in an article a week ago about the church's spending.
Most of the congregation gave Godwin an enthusiastic standing ovation. Some members remained seated and didn't clap as they waited for their pastor's explanation.
Godwin, his image beamed on large screens hanging in the church's packed auditorium, seemed happy to be back in San Antonio after a trip overseas.
"I welcome you tonight, as well as any members of the Express-News journalists who may be present," Godwin said, sparking chuckles in the crowd.
Records show the church has spent tens of thousands of dollars on charter flights or first-class travel for Godwin, his family and church leaders. In the first seven months of this year, the bill for charter flights alone was $143,000.
Church funds were used for luxury hotels and gifts for elders and other church associates that include $2,600 for an Armani suit and accessories and $2,518 for a Cartier watch.
read more here: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA112507.01A.Godwin.29b8b3f.html
Scandal tests faith at TV preacher's university
OKLAHOMA-BORN evangelist Oral Roberts fits right in to that American tradition of perspiring, impassioned preachers who just happen to become very wealthy thanks to the generosity of their wide-eyed congregations.
Roberts began with a revival tent show touring the impoverished South, became a pioneering television preacher and founded a university in his name.
His ministry avoided the sex scandals that besmirched many other television preachers, but the self-proclaimed healer, now 89 and enjoying retirement in California, may yet live to see his life's work undone.
His son, Richard, who has taken on his ministry and is the university's president, is alleged to have involved Oral Roberts University in a local conservative's political campaign in breach of US tax law, plundered its coffers for his family's benefit and wrongfully dismissed three whistleblowers.
A lawsuit issued last week for the three academics alleges Richard Roberts commandeered the university's plane for family use, used university staff to complete his daughters' homework, and spent university funds to renovate his house, which has been remodelled 11 times in 14 years.
His wife, Lindsay, is accused of spending thousands of dollars of funds on clothes, including $US39,000 ($A43,000) at one store. She was heard to say: "As long as I wear it once on TV, we can charge it off."
Mrs. Roberts is said to have awarded scholarships to her friends' children and to have sent dozens of text messages on university mobile phones to "under-age" males.
Read more if you have the stomach for it here: http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/scandal-tests-faith-at-tv-preachers-university/2007/10/10/1191695989842.html
Chabad Embezzlement Scandal Widens
Now for the current allegations. According to Ha'aretz:
The leader of the "Young Chabad" movement in Israel and four other suspects were arrested by Israeli police yesterday on suspicion of embezzling $60 million from donated monies, tax evasion and money-laundering. The arrests of Yosef Aharonov, his assistant and the others followed a collaborative secret eight-month investigation by the Central District Fraud Squad and the Tax Authority.
Donated money never reached its destination, police suspect, and the money-laundering was effected in part by paying salaries to people under the table, and by "paying" money into fictitious bank accounts, Channel 10 reported last night. Businessmen reportedly abused the mechanism by "donating" money to the organization that they'd simply get back by these methods, while taking advantage of the tax break on charitable donations, not to mention the adulation. "We discovered that money was changing hands left and right, and it seems that the suspects were treating the money as though it belonged to them personally," investigating officer Avi Mantzour told Haaretz yesterday.…
[Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak] Aharonov, the Young Chabad manager, is suspected of theft by a manager, fraud under grave circumstances, falsifying corporate documents, hiding income and abetting tax evasion. Evidence shows that a great deal of money passed from the Young Chabad bank account to both private and fictitious bank accounts linked to Aharonov and his cronies.
"Fictitious bank account" means that documents showing transfers refer to accounts that don't actually exist. The fiction went on with donations by major businessmen. "They would donate the money, and receive an income tax break on it. But we can now say that they got it back, though a certain sum would remain in the association's hands," Mantzour said.…
Leading businesspersons are expected to be brought in to police headquarters for questioning including, according to reports, Arcadi Gaydamak.
read more here: http://failedmessiah.typepad.com/failed_messiahcom/2007/11/chabad-embezzle.html
