| Transcript |
Kickbacks in
Swaggert's Closet?
APRIL 17, 1987 / MONTROSE VOICE 5
BATON ROUGE, La (UPI)-A former
employee ofthe Jimmy Swaggart World
Ministries has admitted receiving what
he considered hush money from the television evangelist to keep quiet about
what he believed to be printing contract
overcharges and kickbacks, a television
station has reported.
The allegations of a payoff were made
by Howard "Bud" Fisher, the former
director of direct mail for the Swaggart
ministry, in a 30-minute documentary
on the television preacher aired Monday night by WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge.
Fisher said in late 1982 and 1983 he
tried to alert Swaggart and his wife
Frances to what he believed to be printing contract overcharges by printing
broker Rod Dockery of Dallas and gifts,
rewards and other favors made by
Dockery's company to Bob Anderson,
the brother of Frances Swaggart and
vice president of the ministries.
About 10 minutes into one meeting
with Swaggart, Fisher said he was
given a $5,000 handwritten check, described by his boss as a bonus. Fisher
said he considered it a payment to keep
quiet about the printing contract.
Fisher said the check was followed by
a series of pay raises that increased his
salary within months from $60,000 a
year to $100,000 a year.
However, he was at the same time
stripped of any authority and resigned
his position.
The television documentary also said
Anderson's name was included in information being gathered by New York
attorney Bob Grutman, who represents
fallen PTL leader Jim Bakker and his
wife Tammy.
In defending Bakker in a scandal
involving a sexual encounter with a
former church secretary, Grutman
threatened two weeks ago to "show
there is a smellier laundry in his (Swag-
gart's) hamper than the laundry that he
thought was in Rev. Bakker's."
WBRZ said Grutman also cmpiled
information about another incident in
which a former Swaggart employee was
fired following an alleged sexual affair
with a member of Swaggart's inner circle.
That incident, the television station
said, resulted in a lawsuit when Swaggart tried to evict the fired employee
from a home he bought from the ministry. A settlement was reached, the television station said, and the employee
was allowed to sell the home and repay
the balance of the due mortgage.
The settlement, the television report
said, involved a confidentiality agreement in which the parties agreed not to
disclose details of the incident that led
to the suit.
"I have not sued anyone," Swaggart
said. "I don't know what they're talking
about there."
Swaggart Official Denies
Newspaper's Claims
NEW ORLEANS (UPI)-A lawyer for
television evangelist Jimmy Swaggart
denied Thursday a newspaper's allegations that the Baton Rouge preacher
twice threatened to kill a longtime
member of his ministry's band.
William Treeby, a lawyer for Swaggart and assistant secretary for Jimmy
Swaggart Ministries, said a report
based on court records and published in
Wednesday's edition of The Times-
Picayune "relied on unproven allegations in lawsuits."
Treeby said a telegram from a lawyer
representing musician Dwayne Johnson was delivered to the newspaper
Thursday. The telegram, Treeby said,
indicated Johnson apologized to Swaggart for filing a lawsuit in 1982.
"Dwayne is sorry that he filed that
suit and has apologized to Brother
Jimmy Swaggart," Treeby said the telegram stated.
The article, based on records contained in the lawsuit filed by Johnson
and his wife, reported Swaggart became
enraged at the man and threatened to
kill him on two ocassions.
Sources who allegedly heard Swaggart speak about the matter told the
paper the preacher had learned of a relationship between the band member and
the wife of a member of Swaggart's
inner circle.
The article also reported Swaggart
representatives pressured a Texas
woman to turn over her estate to Jimmy
Swaggart Ministries, according to lawsuits filed by the woman's family and
executor.
Treeby's statement said those allegations concerning the estate of Zoe Vance
"were not true" and matters involving
the woman's estate "are private mat
ters."
The Times-Picayune reported that a
1986 settlement ofthe case allocated 70
percent of the estate to Jimmy Swaggart Ministries and 30 percent to a foundation named for the woman's son.
Treeby's statement confirmed that
disposition of the case.
montrose
VOICE
HOUSTON. TEXAS
ISSUE 338
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 1987
Published weekly
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Contents copyright 1987
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