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Rev Creflo Dollar was criticized heavily for asking his followers to find $63m to buy him the most expensive Gulfstream on the market after his previous private crashed. But Daily Mail Online can disclose that he has previously been threatened with jail for refusing to disclose financial details to a judge and described as ‘uncooperative’ by the US Senate. He lives in a 53-acre estate near Atlanta, Georgia (right) and previously sold an apartment in the Time Warner Center in Manhattan for a profit of more than $1million. During boxer Evander Holyfield’s divorce from his second wife it emerged the pastor’s World Changers Church had received $4m from the sportsman but he refused to make a deposition, prompting the judge to attempt to jail him for contempt.
When mega church leader Creflo Dollar wanted a new private jet he asked his parishioners to open their hearts and wallets and help foot the $65m bill.
But when it comes to his own finances, the Rev Creflo is considerably less open.
Documents obtained by Daily Mail Online show that the pastor and televangelist was threatened with prison for failing to hand over documents that would reveal the source of his income.
He was held in contempt of court – carrying the possibility of prison – during a messy divorce between boxer Evander Holyfield and his second wife.
The preacher refused to cooperate in the civil case.
A judge even wrote a personal letter to Creflo pleading with him as a ‘man of God’ to comply with the law.
But Creflo refused – and used every legal maneuver to get out of revealing anything to do with his finances by appealing to the Georgia Supreme Court.
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Frequent flyer: The Rev Creflo Dollar arrives in Kenya on his previous private jet. It was involved in a collision on the ground in the UK and he launch an appeal for a Gulfstream G650, the world’s fastest business jet
Mass appeal: Rev Creflo Dollar preaches his ‘gospel of prosperity’ and hope to use it to encourage followers like these to hand over $300 each so he could buy the G650. Other owners include Steve Jobs’ widow
Couple: Rev Creflo Dollar and his wife Taffi. The couple have five children, two adopted, three biological, and live on a 53-acre estate close to Atlanta. He has a penchant for pinstrip suits
Secluded: This is the vast home set in 53 acres which Rev Creflo Dollar calls home. He and his wife also enjoy a property in New Jersey and previously sold an apartment in one of New York’s most sought-after addresses
Years later he would evade a Senate finance committee inquiry into his finances although it was learned that in 2006 his Atlanta based church pulled in $69m in one year.
Creflo was deemed the ‘least cooperative’ out of six televangelists who were under investigation amid concern by politicians that their churches were using a tax exempt status to fund extravagant lifestyles.
After three years the probe was abandoned when Dollar, and the others, refused to comply with the demands to hand over paperwork that would document their incomes.
Creflo preaches ‘prosperity from the gospel’ with members of his church urged to donate a portion of their income, known as tithe, to the church.
The charismatic pastor who favors pin striped suits can certainly be said to be living proof of his own words.
He lives in a spectacular $2.4m mansion set in over 50 acres of land in Fayette County, near Atlanta, and once owned a condo overlooking Central Park in New York city – before selling it for a profit above $1 million.
They also have a house on a private estate in Bergen, north New Jersey where the last similar property to be sold reached a price of $2.1 million. Property taxes on the estate are around $34,000 a year.
His preferred pick of cars is a Rolls Royce – he says it was a gift – and as his parishioners found out from his $65m appeal the world’s fastest and most luxurious private jet is his desired method of air travel.
The plea for the $65m was made in a video on the website of his Atlanta based mega church.
Sought after: The Gulfstream G650 flies fractionally lower than the speed of sound, can seat 18, and has a range of 7,000 miles. But Rev Creflo Dollar abandoned his plea to buy one after being mocked and criticised
Damaged: The pastor’s old Gulfstream III was involved in an accident on the ground in the UK and had already flown four million miles. Its difficulties and age prompted the appeal for cash to buy a G650
Damage: The Rev Creflo Dollar’s plane crashed as it prepared for departure from London Biggin Hill airport on 24 November last year. The church then launched an appeal for a new Gulfstream G650
On board: The usually low-profile Rev Creflo Dollar invited Atlanta television channel Fox 5 on board his then private jet in 2006. In the course of the interview he said his calling could not be carried out on scheduled flights
Plea: This was the appeal launched by Rev Creflo Dollar’s church for a new Gulfstream. It claimed the plane had suffered engine failure and had to be brought in to land. It is known that it had ploughed off the runway while preparing to depart from Biggin Hill Airport in the United Kingdom.
Dollar said he needed the Gulfstream to replace his current jet which had flown over four million miles.
It was damaged on the ground at Biggin Hill Airport, south of London as it prepared for departure.
An appeal online claimed it had suffered engine failure and that ‘by the grace of God’ the pilot ‘landed the plane safely’.
The time and location of the incident was not disclosed, making it impossible to verify it or disclose further details.
Creflo would use the jet to fly around the world to deliver his message as well as hand out aid to the most needy, the appeal said.
Aviation experts pointed out that a cargo plane would be more suitable given the Gulfstream’s limited luggage space of 2,500lbs.
Other private jets are also available at far less than the $65m price tag of the Gulfstream which is usually the preserve of the rich and famous. Steve Jobs’s widow is one of the owners of the plane.
Within 24 hours of asking each of his parishioners to chip in $300 the appeal was taken down from his website as Christian leaders pour scorn on his plea calling it ‘obscene’.
Dollar appealed for donations to fund his Gulfstream 650
Writing on the Charisma website, Dr Michael Brown said: ‘I’m all for generous giving, and I’m all for taking care of ministers of the gospel, but I will not be sending Creflo Dollar $300 to help him buy a $65 million jet for his ministry. The very thought of it is obscene.’
Dollar refused to make any comment when contacted by Daily Mail Online
His spokesman Juda Engelmayer, senior vice president at 5W Public Relations in New York, told Daily Mail Online that the fund raising for the jet had been abandoned.
He said: ‘Mr Dollar is flying commercial now. The fund raising was stopped.’
Previously he had said of flying, as he was interviewed on a private jet journey from Atlanta to New York: ‘In order for me to do what I have been called to do, the airlines, they don’t fly my schedule.’
In the same interview, with Fox 5 Atlanta, he defended his ‘gospel of prosperity’ and said: ‘I define prosperity as every arena of life.
‘Prospering in your spirit, prospering in your soul, prospering in your physical body that’s healthy, prospering in your relationships, prospering in your job and prospering in your finances.’
The Rev Dollar rarely gives any interviews and callers to his palatial style home can only enter through an entry phone system.
Such is the lavish nature of his property that the house, which features Roman style pillars at the entrance, cannot be seen from the roadside.
Wrought iron gates emblazoned with two roaring lions stand at the entrance to a winding roadway leading up to the house set in 53 acres, including two lakes.
A cream-colored wall surrounds the property with two foot tall Victorian style lamps adorning the pillars.
Neighbors rarely see Dollar or his wife Taffi, but have complained about the lights on the perimeter wall being kept on all the time.
Estate: The only way to appreciate the scale of Rev Creflo Dollar’s home is from the air. The house is set in 56 acres, including grass and woodlands
Imposing: The house is not visible from the road and is guarded by a security system. Neighbors have complained about the lights being on round the clock
Landscaped: The Rev Creflo Dollar’s estate includes rolling fields. It is the biggest property in the county
Property deal: Rev Creflo Dollar used this deed to hand the property to the church for $1. It is now registered in their name again. The reason for the change is unknown
One neighbor said: ‘In all the years I have lived here I’ve never spoken to him.
‘He just arrives in his car and drives up to the house. He has never made any attempt to get to know the people who live near him.’
Dollar, 52, owns the biggest property in Fayette County. Last year his tax bill for the house was $28,557.
Since buying the property in 1994 he has transferred ownership to his church in a process known as quit claim deed. It has since been transferred back into Dollar’s and his wife’s names.
The pastor took the title of the county’s biggest house after Evander Holyfield lost his 109-room mansion to foreclosure in 2012.
Holyfield was a member of Dollar’s church which preaches the religious doctrine that financial blessing is the will of God for Christians.
Buried in the archives at Fayette County Superior Court are three files packed with hundreds of pages that detail the critical role Dollar played in the contentious divorce of Holyfield and his wife Janice Itson.
According to Itson’s lawyer during her three year marriage her husband made donations of $4m to Dollar’s church.
Divorce: Evander Holyfield and his second wife Janice became involved in an ugly divorce. In the course of it the Rev Creflo Dollar was held in contempt for refusing to be deposed over finances and warned he faced prison
Infamous: Evander Holyfield is best known for the so-called bite fight, when he clashed with Mike Tyson in June 1997 and Tyson took a chunk out of his ear
Lavish: Evander Holyfield’s them property was at the center of his divorce battle. In the divorce proceedings it was disclosed that he had given $4 million to Rev Creflo Dollar’s church
Plea: Daily Mail Online can disclose how the judge in the case was reduced to begging with Rev Creflo Dollar as ‘a man of God’ to come clean on details of finances. He had previously found the pastor in contempt
The bulk of that money was paid 60 days before Holyfield – who famously had part of his ear bitten off by Mike Tyson during a 1997 bout known as the ‘bite fight’ – filed for divorce.
Lawyer John Mayoue, representing Itson, requested Dollar make a deposition to explain how much money he had received from Holyfield.
Dollar refused to take the deposition and employed his own legal team to fight off any move to force him to reveal details of his finances.
The pastor claimed he would be infringing his ministerial duty if he talked about Holyfield and his wife as he said he had counseled them both.
But despite being told the court was only interested in financial arrangements Dollar refused to comply.
On December 21 1999 Judge Ben Miller signed an order holding Dollar in contempt of court and ordered him to be held in Fayette County jail.
Dollar’s legal team appealed and the pastor was never jailed.
But just two months later the judge took the extraordinary step of writing a personal letter to Dollar pleading with him to give a deposition.
Prestigious: The Time Warner Center, also known as One Central Park, is where the Rev Creflo Dollar and his wife Taffi bought and sold an apartment – for a more than $1million profit
Views: The advantage of the apartment on floor 67 of the Time Warner Center was not just its sweeping views across Manhattan. It also made the Dollars a profit in excess of $1million
In the pink: The apartment in the Time Warner Center was bought for $2.4m and sold for $3.75m, making the Dollars well over one million dollars
Flush with success: The two-bedroom apartment boasted marble-clad bathroom with his-and-hers sinks, as well as views of the city
Judge Miller wrote:’ This is a personal appeal to you as a citizen of the State and Nation, and as a man of God, asking you to comply with the law.
I define prosperity as every arena of life. Prospering in your spirit, prospering in your soul, prospering in your physical body that’s healthy, prospering in your relationships, prospering in your job and prospering in your finances
Rev Creflo Dollar
‘My order specifically relieves you from violating the ministerial privilege. And I assure you no violation of the ministerial privilege will ever be required of you.
‘If you choose not to submit to the deposition, both of us must comply with the law, and these officers must arrest you.’
Dollar never gave the deposition as Holyfield settled his divorce a month later and the case was closed.
Lawyer John Mayoue said:’It is a matter of public record what was said about Holyfield’s donations to the church and why I wanted to find out about them.
‘He was very much a material witness in the divorce case but did everything not to appear.’
Holyfield’s ex-wife Janice refused to comment when contacted by Daily Mail Online.
Dollar’s reticence to talk about where he makes his money became the subject of a Senate inquiry in 2006.
The World Changers Church International, like other churches, is a tax-exempt organisation.
Via – DailyMail
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