"He was a man of God." That's exactly how he got away with it.

In 1989, televangelist Jim Bakker was convicted on twenty-four counts of fraud and conspiracy. Through his PTL ministry, he sold "lifetime partnerships" to more than 150,000 followers — people who believed they were investing in a shared religious vision — and diverted their money, over $150 million of it, while overselling promises he knew he could not keep. The Fourth Circuit later vacated his 45-year sentence in United States v. Bakker, 925 F.2d 728 (4th Cir. 1991), because the trial judge had injected his own religious feelings into sentencing. But the court affirmed every conviction. The fraud was real. The victims were real.

I think about that case often, because it captures something I have seen in my own work: the most devastating frauds are not committed by strangers. They are committed by people we trust. And no trust runs deeper than the trust between a religious leader and the people who look to him for guidance.

Religious authority is power — and power can be abused

I am an ordained rabbi as well as a litigator. I have spent my career inside religious communities — as former CEO of Agudath Israel of California, as founder of the Mishpat Institute, and in pro bono work for organizations like the Aleph Institute and StandWithUs. I know firsthand how much good religious institutions do, and how much trust they rightly earn.

That is exactly why betrayal by a religious figure cuts so deep. When a rabbi, pastor, priest, or spiritual mentor uses his position to take your money, control your decisions, isolate you from family, or worse — the harm is compounded by shame, confusion, and fear of the community's reaction. Victims often ask themselves: Was it my fault for trusting? Will anyone believe me? Am I betraying my faith by speaking up?

You are not. The Bakker case makes the point from both directions: religion is never a license to defraud or abuse, and a person's faith — yours or anyone else's — has no place being used against them in a courtroom. The law protects believers. It does not protect those who exploit belief.

What the law can do

Depending on the circumstances, victims of clergy or religious-figure misconduct may have civil claims including fraud and misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, undue influence (particularly in financial and estate matters), intentional infliction of emotional distress, and claims against institutions that enabled or concealed the misconduct. California has also significantly expanded the ability of survivors of sexual abuse to bring claims that once would have been time-barred — deadlines in this area have changed repeatedly, so it is worth asking before assuming it is too late.

These cases are sensitive. They often involve pressure from the community not to "air dirty laundry," religious documents and customs a court will not understand without help, and defendants who cloak misconduct in spiritual language. Handling them well requires a lawyer who is fluent in both worlds — who can translate religious context for a secular courtroom without ever letting it excuse what happened.

Why I take these cases

I built my practice at the intersection of faith and law. I have briefed and argued more than two dozen appeals and writs, including the published reversal in Baird v. PulteGroup and a successful appeal in Turner v. Insight Global, and I have filed an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court. I care deeply about religious liberty — and precisely because of that, I have no patience for those who abuse religious authority. Nothing discredits faith communities more than leaders who prey on their own people and institutions that look away.

If a religious figure or institution has taken advantage of you — financially, emotionally, or physically — you deserve a candid, confidential assessment of your options. Speaking with a lawyer is not a betrayal of your community or your faith. It is how you protect both.

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Yisrael Gelb · Gelb Law APC | Beverly Hills, CA · yisrael@gelblawapc.com · (323) 632-6864

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