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An employee of Jimmy Swaggart Ministries (JSM) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has been arrested on charges of embezzling more than $750,000 from the ministry. John Clouser, 34, was arrested last November after the ministry discovered that $90,000 was missing from the sale of a Texas property donated to JSM. The state has charged him with money-laundering, bank fraud, obstruction of justice, and theft. A federal investigation is pending.Clouser worked at JSM for about ten years, most recently as director of development. He handled leases, property rentals, and trust documents, according to a JSM official. The Baton Rouge Advocate reports that Clouser also allegedly stole $110,000 in retirement funds that his mother had entrusted to him. He spent the money on a number of girlfriends, buying flowers, renting limousines, and keeping a furnished apartment, the report says.Barry Miller, attorney for the ministry, says police found boxes of the organization's Bibles, books, tapes, and compact discs—worth between $10,000 and $15,000—in Clouser's home. "Mr. Clouser was a very trusted employee, and people at the ministry were very shocked and hurt by his actions," Miller told Christianity Today. "He let a lot of people down."

Coverage of the case in the Baton Rouge Advocate includes "Man charged in theft case at BR ministry"(Jan. 19, 2000) and "Swaggart ministry funds embezzled | Man booked with stealing $800,000" (Nov. 17, 1999).No information on the embezzlement was found on the Jimmy Swaggart Ministries site. Randall Balmer's article "Still Wrestling with the Devil | A visit with Jimmy Swaggart ten years after his fall" appeared in the March 2, 1998 issue of our print magazine.

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March 6 2000, Vol. 44, No. 3