The pastor and televangelist Dr. Shine was known for his luxurious lifestyle, declaring bankruptcy in 2005 per The Bay Net. Dr. Shine had to pay back more than $630,000 to four church members, after he was found to be living off the assets of the church. But that’s not all: he was jailed for deception during his bankruptcy proceedings. So who, exactly, was “Dr. Shine”?

Dr. Shine, real name Robert J. Freeman, was accused of affinity fraud. This is a type of fraud during which the conman targets those who are within the same community as them, such as a church group. Freeman referred to himself as “God’s Top Gun of Deliverance” and built trust with his victims. According to AFRO, Freeman and his wife were $1.3 million in debt by 2005, with extravagant expenses such as $87,000 in private jet leasing.

But most people don’t go to jail during bankruptcy. Freeman was purchasing goods under the names of other churchgoers as a way of hiding his assets — assets that included a $1.75 million dollar residence. That was a crime that could have gotten him up to 20 years in prison or a $250,000 fine.

Robert Schuller preached in the “Crystal Cathedral, which was neither made of crystal or a cathedral, and hosted a weekly TV show, The House of Power. That power was the “power of positive thinking,” which nevertheless did not extend to the “power of responsible finance.” But in terms of charlatanry, Schuller wasn’t so bad; he was more a self-help peddler than a snake oil salesman. For the most part, there weren’t any major scandals for his ministry, it just didn’t manage its money right.

About a decade ago, Robert Schuller’s church was forced to initiate bankruptcy proceedings after creditors sued for repayment — and the Crystal Cathedral had to sell off some of its property to pay off its debts, such as its mortgage. Schuller himself pleaded with his congregation to send money in, reported by ABC News. The economic woes were blamed primarily on the recession. The church was known for its pageantry and big productions, which were ultimately expensive. By 2010, the church owed $7.5 million to creditors, in addition to a nearly $40 million mortgage.

According to the New York Times, the Schuller family decided to cut ties with the church by 2012. By then, Schuller himself had been succeeded by his family in terms of duties. Following his death, his residence in Orange County was listed for sale — at $1.749 million according to Fortune.

Following Donald Trump‘s inauguration, publications such as Slate highlighted Paula White’s lack of credentials — notably, that she calls herself a doctor without an actual degree, and that in 2014, she lost everything when her first church went bankrupt, with $29 million in loans (despite living in a $2.2 million mansion). But perhaps she wasn’t such a strange pick: Trump’s businesses have declared bankruptcy multiple times.

But that’s not all that’s bizarre about Paula White. In early 2020, according to The Guardian, she was broadcast on video commanding “satanic pregnancies” to “miscarry.” (She later claimed this was taken out of context.) White believed that she had been appointed as Trump’s adviser on assignment from God, believed financial prosperity was part of God’s approval, and had faced allegations of misusing church funds before. In fact, Paula White’s church took in from $150,000 to $350,000 from the Paycheck Protection Program. Many churches and televangelists did.

White was one of six televangelists investigated for misappropriation of White House funds. Some accused White of opportunism, due to her requests for “seed” money for Trump’s Faith and Opportunity Initiative — and the running of online coronavirus prayer sessions, which claimed that she operated a hospital for the sick. And while she’s only “lost everything” once, PPP inquiries and fraud investigations continue.

The famous Christian institution Oral Roberts University was founded by one of the most famous televangelists in the world — the titular Oral Roberts — who was succeeded by his son, Richard Roberts. In 2007, Oral Roberts University, was found to be over $50 million in debt, in part to the IRS. 

While Richard Roberts claimed the issues couldn’t have been foreseen, Tulsa World reported that he did resign as president of the university. He was accused of embezzling funds from the school for purposes such as home remodeling — as well as misappropriation of assets such as the university jet. His wife, Lindsey, was further accused of spending nearly $40,000 of the school’s money on clothes, in addition to an $800 monthly cellphone bill. It wouldn’t take too long for the university to resolve its debt; the university itself announced that it had resolved all long-term debts as of 2009, an impressive feat. This included nearly $20 million in cash and pledges, reported by NBC News.

That wasn’t the last time he hit the news — in 2012, Richard Roberts was arrested for speeding and a DUI.

Part of the problem of being a televangelist is the massive amount of power that you have over the lives of other people. Tony Alamo, along with his wife Susan, ran a cult — now immortalized in the documentary Ministry of Evil: The Twisted Cult of Tony Alamo. By some accounts, it was driven by Alamo’s unbridled hubris: he felt as though he could do anything.

But this eventually caught up with them. In 1994, a jury convicted him of tax evasion, according to the NY Times. He had understated his income in 1985 and failed to file at all from 1986 to 1988. Later, he would go on to marry eight of his followers — including children as young as 15. This is what would eventually (and rightfully) undo him.

Later, Alamo was later ordered by a judge to pay restitution of $500,000 to each of his sexual assault victims. He was convicted in 2009 for taking underaged girls across state lines for sex. As reported by Time Magazine, he ultimately died in prison in 2017 at the age of 82.