the story of an evangelist
piet...@hotmail.com
Twenty years ago, we were investigating Walter Vincent Grant, the
flamboyant TV preacher who in July of 1996 was convicted of fraud for
using his Eagles Nest Family Church members' contributions to purchase
his $1.2 million estate - and other goodies - without reporting it
as taxable income. He got 16 months in prison, a fine of $30,000, and
was ordered to repay back taxes totaling $253,000. Gee, that appears to
be a profitable system, doesn't it? Subsequently, Grant emerged from
the pokey and took up a new pulpit on TV, from which he continues to
screech about "Jeeee-zuz!" and collect the money from those sheep
he can shear.
I was re-organizing boxes of documents recently, and came upon one
packed with mementos of the Grant investigation. Our search of the
trash left behind when Grant departed a "crusade" at the Fort
Lauderdale Armory Auditorium had yielded a mass of valuable material.
We found notes from his wife - "Hurry up. We have 10:30
reservations at the restaurant" - as well as yellow Post-it notes
discarded from his huge Bible after use - "Bill, arthritis in
knees, veteran, 101 Tate Street, daughter Sally" - and a paper bag
containing some $600 in discarded checks.
Discarded checks? Yes, folks, Grant simply threw away small checks
because he couldn't be bothered to enter them onto a deposit slip! He
was making a fortune in undeclared income and he could afford to toss
them out in the trash. You see here one example of those checks. Most
were $5 and $10 offerings, but anything $20 or less was garbage to
Grant. Can you think of any other business that can throw out $600+ in
income and not notice it...?