CREW has filed a second IRS complaint against the Living Word Christian Center.  We filed an IRS complaint against the same church last October for engaging in electioneering.  Ths time, we allege that the Senior Pastor and Founder,  James "Mac" Hammond, has profited from the organization.  The problem is that, as an insider, he shouldn't be benefiting from the non-profit entity.  Our press release and the accompanying documents, documenting some of the benefits accrued by Hammond, can be found here:

Loan documents given to CREW by the blog Minnesota Monitor show that LWCC showered Hammond with favorable financial deals, including a scheme under which Hammond purchased a plane, partially on credit, from the church and then leased it back. The church then paid Hammond twice the amount per month to rent the plane that Hammond paid the church to buy it.

In addition, the plane remained in Hammond’s possession while the church paid all of the related expenses, including rent to store the plane in Hammond’s own hangar.

The leaseback deal may violate tax law “inurement” rules barring financially favorable deals to insiders like Hammond as well as prohibitions against using charitable resources to compensate insiders for activity not related to the organization’s tax exempt purpose.