Prosecutors Wednesday showed videotapes of Jim Bakker assuring viewers he's "not here to make money" as they sought to portray the TV evangelist as a big spender whose money came from believers who could hardly make ends meet.
"This is a deal of a lifetime," Bakker said in an 1986 broadcast played in court. "There are no fees. This is not a profit-making organization."Bakker was offering a new program that promised $500 donors lodging for three days and two nights in 16-unit facilities called bunk houses. Only one bunk house was completed when Bakker quit the evangelical empire in 1987.
"We're not here to make money," Bakker said in another videotape. "I hope my critics wake up and realize I'd be a fool if I tried to make money off something like this."
The prosecutions contends that Bakker used PTL funds raised for "partnerships" to live in high style. PTL "partners" were guaranteed lodging at the ministry's hotels.
According to evidence, in September 1986, after Bakker had sold 34,000 bunkhouse memberships, PTL builder Roe Messner sent him a memo agreeing to reduce the number of bunkhouses from six to three.
In six hours of tapes of Bakker's "The PTL Club" shown Tuesday, Bakker appealed for donations and asked his followers to trust him.
"I'm sincere," Bakker told viewers in 1984. "I would not lie to you about anything."
But over and over, prosecutor Deborah Smith halted the tape to ask FBI agent John Pearson to compare Bakker's statements to behind-the-scenes testimony about Bakker's television ministry.
In a 1984 videotape, Bakker urged his audience to pay for partnerships with a credit card, saying he bought his with a credit card because he didn't have any cash. The same year, prosecutors said, Bakker received $1 million in salary and bonuses and bought a Palm Desert, Calif., home and a Rolls-Royce.
Bakker is accused of diverting more than $3.7 million in PTL money raised from the partnership sales to pay for personal luxuries. If convicted of the 24 counts against him, he could be sentenced to 120 years in prison and fined more than $5 million.