U.S. Postal Service inspectors and IRS criminal investigators raided the Texas offices of televangelist Benny Hinn Thursday.
According to local reports, numerous federal agents have been spotted walking in and out of Hinn’s grapevine offices with boxes. A federal source told WFAA that Hinn is at the center of a lengthy IRS investigation, although agents would not offer further details about the scope and target of their search warrant.
“Today, we are here on official business, we are conducting a search warrant on the premises, basically that’s all I can tell you today,” special agent Michael Moseley with IRS Criminal Investigations told WFAA.
When IRS criminal probes are launched they generally consider tax evasion and fraud against the government, according to special agents.
Hinn, a controversial faith healer, has come under fire for his lavish lifestyle and is no stranger to IRS investigations. In 1999, the televangelist faced IRS scrutiny for soliciting donations for a $30 million center that was never built which prompted a 2005 investigation. He was was also one of six television evangelists investigated by the Senate Finance Committee in 2007, which cleared him of any wrongdoing three years later.
