Unlike the morally compromised televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, who favored prostitutes, or Ted Haggard, the former head of the National Association of Evangelicals and founder and pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, who resigned those posts after revelations of his sex and drugs scandal came to light, David Cerullo has not been enveloped by such scandals.

David Cerullo, the son of evangelist Morris Cerullo and the CEO of Inspiration Networks (INSP) -- a prominent Christian evangelical organization - is, however, under fire over revelations that he is being grossly overpaid; pocketing a multimillion-dollar salary.

Cerullo, who began his rise in the ranks of televangelism's chosen after his father, evangelist Morris Cerullo, paid $7 million in 1990 for the PTL television studios abandoned by the scandal-ridden Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, has carved out quite an empire for himself and his family.

A while back, Chuck Shepherd's News of the Weird pointed out that "With his father, preacher Morris Cerullo, they assure followers that the more they give, the more God will return to them. In a recent TV spot, Morris, speaking first in tongues, and then addressing the currently credit-challenged: `When you (donate), the windows of heaven...open for you...100 fold.' `Debt cancellation!' (The on-screen message: `Call now with your $900 offering and receive God's debt cancellation!')"

Prosperous and enterprising

In her book, God's Profits: Faith, Fraud, and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters (PoliPointPress, 2008,) Sarah Posner pointed out that the Word of Faith movement, which Morris Cerullo has been part of, "emphasizes the power of the born-again believer in Jesus Christ to call things into existence, including the believer's own physical and mental health and, most important, the believer's financial prosperity."

Posner also noted that "critics of Word of Faith charge that it is a heresy that robs its followers of spiritual fulfillment; an affinity fraud that robs them of their money, and a distortion of the Scriptures, run by authoritarian preachers ..."

The bottom line: The so-called "prosperity gospel" or "the health and wealth gospel" has undoubtedly become a prosperous enterprise for those soliciting bucks from believers.

According to Charisma News, "Cerullo earned nearly $2.5 million in total compensation in 2010. That marks a 47 percent pay increase since 2008." In addition to Cerullo's off-the-charts compensation, it has also been revealed that several of Cerullo's family members, including his wife, son, and daughter "receive salaries approaching $200,000." In addition, according to reporting by The Charlotte Observer, "Altogether, at least 25 executives on the broadcaster's payroll got total compensation of more than $150,000 in 2010, the IRS return shows."

"With a budget of more than $95 million, [Cerullo's operation] has raised much of its money by telling viewers that God brings financial favor to those who donate. Televangelists tell viewers to expect miracles if they send money," The Charlotte Observer reported. The newspaper's research found that Cerullo is the best-paid leader of any religious charity.

In 2009, The Charlotte Observer reported that "At a time when Inspiration Networks has been cutting jobs, freezing wages and even adjusting the office thermostat to save money, the chief executive of the Charlotte-area broadcaster has invested about $4million in a lakefront home under construction in South Carolina." According to the Observer, the new house was slated to replace the 12,000-square foot home in south Charlotte that the family was living in.

Cerullo's new house, which sits on the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains west of Greenville in a gated community that overlooks Lake Keowee, was at the time 
"shaping up to be one of the priciest houses" in western South Carolina. The newspaper reported that the house "includes more than 9,000 square feet, along with a 2,000-square-foot screened porch."

A year before, The Charlotte Business Journal reported that "the evolution of the 90- -acre City of Light master plan marks the intersection of divine inspiration and Disney-style flourishes in a $150 million campus setting." The campus is located in Indian Land, South Carolina.

The Charlotte Observer's Ames Alexander recently reported that "As revenue and salaries at the nonprofit have risen, Inspiration has also won its quest for a major tax break on its campus in Lancaster County. In 2010, following an appeal by the broadcaster, the S.C. Department of Revenue agreed to declare all but 2 percent of the property tax-exempt. That reversed a 2009 decision in which the state denied Inspiration's bid for tax exemption," which cost "the county more than $500,000 in annual property tax revenue."

Rusty Leonard, CEO of Ministry Watch, called Cerullo's compensation "out of bounds." According to its web site, Ministry Watch has placed David Cerullo/Inspirational Network on its "list of 30 ministries that engage in questionable practices that should cause donors to pause before giving." Amongst those included on the 2011 list are Cerullo's father, Morris Cerullo, and his World Evangelism, Benny Hinn's World Healing Center Church, the EBible Fellowship/Chris McCann, the Family Care Foundation, Kenneth Copeland Ministries, Joel Osteen, Rod Parsley's Breakthrough Ministries, and TBN/Trinity Broadcasting Network.

INSP, which claims to reach more than 72 million homes in the U.S. alone, issued a statement that maintained Cerullo's "compensation is established by a board of directors utilizing reports and recommendations of an independent executive compensation committee. He is not present during the board's review and does not participate in these discussions or their decisions."

"This committee compares his compensation with other executive compensation of similar organizations with similar levels of responsibility," INSP said. "This includes cable television network CEOs, senior media company executives, CEOs of faith-based national ministries, and pastors of churches."

Ken Berger, president of Charity Navigator, told The Charlotte Observer that Cerullo's salary is "outrageous: "You can manipulate the studies to put a good face on something that defies common sense, which is what we're talking about here," said Berger.