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Jim Bakker gets PPP loans during legal fight on fraud claims
Source: Associated Press
Jim Bakker gets PPP loans during legal fight on fraud claims
By SALLY STAPLETON
August 24, 2020
When the U.S. government extended pandemic hardship loans to thousands of religious institutions, Jim Bakker and Morningside USA, his ministry in Blue Eye, Missouri, were among the most high-profile recipients.
On April 28, the pastor received approval for an amount between $650,000 and $1.7 million in Paycheck Protection Program funds.
Weeks before, the New York and Missouri attorneys general, as well as the Federal Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commission, filed complaints alleging Bakker engaged in deceptive practices by touting purported health benefits of a silver product on The Jim Bakker Show — including a suggestion it could be used to treat or prevent COVID-19 infection, something the FDA says is false. In June, the Arkansas attorney general’s office followed with its own lawsuit.
Applicants seeking PPP loans were asked to certify they weren’t engaged in any activity that is illegal under federal, state or local law. The question is whether Bakker’s involvement in ongoing litigation and fraud allegations will rise to the level of a Small Business Administration review.
It’s likely, according to attorney Daniel Grooms, a former federal prosecutor who worked in the Justice Department for 15 years. “There is every reason to think that an entity, led by a person with the profile he has, given his history, and given the ongoing fraud issues surrounding the product he was selling, that those ongoing investigations and the ongoing attention ... it would be realistic to think that would lead to further investigation of his PPP loans,” Grooms said.
-snip-
By SALLY STAPLETON
August 24, 2020
When the U.S. government extended pandemic hardship loans to thousands of religious institutions, Jim Bakker and Morningside USA, his ministry in Blue Eye, Missouri, were among the most high-profile recipients.
On April 28, the pastor received approval for an amount between $650,000 and $1.7 million in Paycheck Protection Program funds.
Weeks before, the New York and Missouri attorneys general, as well as the Federal Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commission, filed complaints alleging Bakker engaged in deceptive practices by touting purported health benefits of a silver product on The Jim Bakker Show — including a suggestion it could be used to treat or prevent COVID-19 infection, something the FDA says is false. In June, the Arkansas attorney general’s office followed with its own lawsuit.
Applicants seeking PPP loans were asked to certify they weren’t engaged in any activity that is illegal under federal, state or local law. The question is whether Bakker’s involvement in ongoing litigation and fraud allegations will rise to the level of a Small Business Administration review.
It’s likely, according to attorney Daniel Grooms, a former federal prosecutor who worked in the Justice Department for 15 years. “There is every reason to think that an entity, led by a person with the profile he has, given his history, and given the ongoing fraud issues surrounding the product he was selling, that those ongoing investigations and the ongoing attention ... it would be realistic to think that would lead to further investigation of his PPP loans,” Grooms said.
-snip-
Read more: https://apnews.com/2c690094065ece9ba147feb4b18812d2
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