LAWSUITS PLAGUE CERULLO MINISTRY

In recent months, faith healer Morris Cerullo has found himself and his San Diego based ministry targeted with various lawsuits and allegations of wrongdoing.

Last year, John Paul Warren, a former executive for the Morris Cerullo World Evangelism (MCWE) ministry, filed a suit in San Diego Superior Court. Warren charges Cerullo with "fraud, violation of the California Labor Code and misuse of Warren's confidential 5,000 name mailing list," according to a lengthy news report in the May issue of Charisma. While officials at Cerullo's ministry refuse to address the particulars of the lawsuit, they did state that Warren's accusations are "100 percent without merit." They also allege that prior to filing the suit, Warren demanded $2.2 million from the organization to avoid his litigation and that he has refused to enter into binding Christian arbitration with his grievances.

Warren's suit indicts Cerullo, saying that at a January 1997 meeting the evangelist solicited $1,500 gifts from donors to MCWE. According to the news report, "In return [for the donation], Warren said MCWE promised to provide them with a satellite dish allowing access to its global prayer satellite network as well as other organizational events." Warren said that donors were never given the satellite dishes they were promised. Cerullo's attorney responded to the charge, saying "the ministry made it clear to donors that the satellite dish offer was contingent on negotiations with system providers," the magazine reported.

Warren, who worked for the Cerullo ministry from March 1998 until being fired in October 1999, also alleges that he was lured to the ministry with promises of becoming Cerullo's "partner" and eventual "successor." The attraction of those promises, he says, convinced him to abandon his own ministry and hand over his own list of donors to MCWE. He further maintains that his name was removed from being considered as a possible candidate for pastor of an Assemblies of God congregation in Oregon after the church called Cerullo's ministry for a personal reference.

A previous lawsuit filed against Cerullo has been settled out of court. Another former MCWE employee, Harry Turner, reached an undisclosed settlement with the ministry. Turner, a former vice president who resigned in November 1999, also charged the evangelist with "lies and fraud ... to his donors." Turner, like Warren, also requested money to settle the complaints short of litigation. Turner had demanded $800,000 to prevent the lawsuit.

During depositions for the Turner lawsuit, "Robert Killion, Cerullo's chief financial officer, admitted that the federal government was investigating allegations of mail fraud at Cerullo's ministry," Charisma reported. Also revealed was that "Davis Frast, a public information officer and inspector with the Postal Inspection Service, said that his agency has received complaints about Cerullo's ministry and the agency is in the first stages of an investigation."

Officials at MCWE contend that both lawsuits are attempts to extort money and energy from the ministry.

-- MKG

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