Benny Hinn’s wife files for Divorce. Be HEALED! (Please pay as the bucket is passed.)

The wife of high-profile televangelist Binny Hinn filed for divorce February 1, 2010 in the Superior Court of Orange County, CA citing “irreconcilable differences.”

Suzanne Hinn, whom has been married since 1979, has retained Sorrell Trope to represent her interests, and stated in the filing that since January 26, 2010, Benny Hinn has been living in a multi-million dollar home near Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point, a wealthy coastal community in southern Orange County. According to the ministry’s website, the couple have three daughters and a son, all of whom have addresses in wealthy southern California digs.

According to J. Lee Grady, Contributing Editor of Charisma magazine – which caters to the Pentecostal community – Hinn’s flock will demand answers. “It will be devastating to the people who have supported Benny Hinn’s evangelistic work around the world. Obviously because their ministry has been very public (and) they will need to issue a statement to their supporters to explain how this happened.”

Despite continuing and repeated requests for full public disclosure of his organization’s finances, Hinn has steadfastly refused. Hinn has flown around the world in a leased Gulfstream corporate jet monikered “Dove One” to stadiums packed with tens of thousands of followers, which he calls “Miracle Crusades.”

Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, whom sits on the Senate Banking Committee, has an ongoing investigation of Hinn and five other televangelists concerning their compliance with IRS riles for non-profit organizations. On his ministry’s web site, Hinn claims that external auditors ensure IRS compliance, and further claims that in 2008, he spent 88% of the money he collected on ministry.

Senator Grassley’s partial comment made July 7, 2007 on the Senate Finance Committee investigation follows: “Joyce Meyer and Benny Hinn have engaged in open and honest dialogue with committee staff. They have not only provided responses to every question but, in the spirit of true cooperation, also have provided information over and above what was requested.

“Both Joyce Meyer and Benny Hinn have indicated that they are also instituting reforms without waiting for the committee to complete its review.  Self-reform can be faster and more effective than government regulation and is the hallmark of my oversight of The Nature Conservancy, the Smithsonian Institution, American University and the American Red Cross. These organizations are all going strong and are arguably better off than they were before. I support voluntary, independent accreditation programs like those sponsored by the Land Trust Alliance and the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and encourage these ministries to pursue similar accreditation. The most successful non-profit organizations recognize the need for transparency about their operations and accountability to their donors and the taxpaying public. They appreciate that Congress has a responsibility to review the effectiveness and fairness of tax laws for taxpayers and tax-exempt groups alike.

“The ministries that continue not to cooperate appear to be heeding the advice of attorneys who are not familiar with congressional oversight in general and specifically the Finance Committee’s oversight and legislative work in the area of tax-exempt organizations over the last seven years. These attorneys who aren’t part of the ministries themselves have a natural incentive to prolong the process as long as possible.”

Although Hinn’s ministry is headquartered in Grapevine, Texas – Texas has no state income tax – the organization operates a church and television studio in the Orange County city of Aliso Viejo, CA. His entire organization is believed to be a multi-million dollar operation.

A membership search of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability website for Hinn or his ministry returned no results, and a phone call to the organization confirmed that neither Hinn nor his ministry have ever been members of the ECFA.