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US televangelist Jim Bakker, ensnared in fraud and sex scandal, dies at 86

Global Published 6 October 2026, 13:55 · archived 6 Oct 2026

Bakker spent four and a half years in prison after being convicted in 1989 ​of defrauding followers in a scheme involving holidays at his Christian theme parkThe US televangelist Jim Bakker, who built a multimillion-dollar empire and lived ⁠in opulence before being disgraced by a sex scandal, a conviction for defrauding followers and divorce from his television co-host Tammy Faye, has died aged 86.The death of Bakker, whose journey from the TV pulpit to a prison cell in the 1980s inspired comparisons to the corrupt character of the fictional preacher-huckster Elmer Gantry, was revealed on ⁠soc...

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