US televangelist Jim Bakker, who built a multimillion-dollar empire before being convicted of defrauding followers, has died at 86. His death was announced on social media by his second wife, Lori Bakker, who stated, “It is with a broken heart that I share that my beloved husband, Jim Bakker, went home to be with the Lord this evening.”
Bakker was convicted in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1989 on 24 fraud and conspiracy charges. Prosecutors stated he defrauded followers of $158m by selling promises of lifetime annual vacations that could not be provided. He spent four and a half years in prison for the conviction.
Before his conviction, Bakker had resigned from his PTL ministry in 1987 following revelations of a 1980 sexual encounter and a subsequent $265,000 payoff using ministry funds. After his release from prison in 1994, Bakker revived his career as a television preacher with a new wife and television show in 2003.