This preacher loves his religion. He also loves money. And this scam is about to make him super rich.
His name is Peter, and he travels across the United States preaching in various venues. He also preaches on the radio, but in 1982, everything changes for him. He starts preaching on TV, and he immediately realizes he can make a fortune from this. So, he comes up with an insane scam.
First, he gathers massive congregations and begins faith healing. He pretends he can cure the blind, heal cancer, and perform miracles just by touching people.
“Glory to God! There it is, I tell you. A release. A divine release of God’s power!”
People believe him. They come from all over the country, desperate for healing.
“Here it comes, in the mighty and the matchless name of Jesus. Restoration!”
His sermons are broadcast nationwide, and donations start pouring in. Now, he is really getting paid. But that is not the only part of his scam.
During his sermons, he calls out random people in the audience, people he has never met, and he already knows everything about them. Their names, addresses, and even their medical conditions. He claims it is divine revelation, a miracle from God. The audience is amazed. How could he possibly know all this?
Soon, Peter’s faith healing shows are broadcast on 51 TV outlets and over 40 radio stations across the US and Canada. At his peak, he allegedly makes over 500,000 dollars a month in the 1980s. That is insane money.
And he does not stop there. His ministry starts selling all kinds of ridiculous blessed items—miracle manna, holy anointed oil, keychains, anything he can slap a religious label on. The man is getting crazy rich. But not everyone is impressed.
The Man Who Exposed Him
One person sees through Peter’s scam. His name is James, a stage magician and famous skeptic known for debunking frauds. He watches Peter’s show and immediately calls him out as a con artist. But calling him out is not enough, he needs proof.
James gathers a team of volunteers and attends one of Peter’s sermons. It is in a massive auditorium with thousands of people. As donations are collected, one of James’s volunteers gets close to the stage and notices something odd—Peter is wearing a hearing aid.
Which is strange. If this man can heal people with his hands, why does he need a hearing aid? That is when it clicks. It is not a hearing aid. It is an earpiece. Someone is feeding Peter information.
The team returns to another sermon, but this time, they bring a radio scanner. One volunteer dresses as a security guard and waits in the back. The moment Peter starts preaching, the scanner picks up a radio transmission.
“Hello, PD. I love you. I’m talking to you. Can you hear me? If you can’t, you’re in trouble.”
The voice belongs to Elizabeth, Peter’s wife. She is hidden in a separate room, feeding him real-time information through his earpiece.
“We have a hot one for you. Robert K. Wood. He needs surgery.”
Peter repeats everything she says like it is divine knowledge.
“Robert K. Wood! You need surgery. The doctors were going to do surgery on you!”
And just like that, the scam is exposed.
Here is how it worked. Before each sermon, church staff had the audience fill out prayer cards with their personal details. These cards were secretly swapped out before the sermon, and Peter’s wife read the information to him through his earpiece. The audience had no idea.
James records everything and takes it to The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, the biggest TV show at the time. They play the recordings for millions of Americans, exposing Peter as a fraud.
Peter panics. First, he denies everything. Then he claims the recordings were faked. He throws out excuse after excuse, but the public is not buying it. Donations plummet. Within a year, his entire ministry files for bankruptcy.
That should have been the end of the story. But Peter is not done.
The Comeback: A Bigger, More Corrupt Scam
After a decade in hiding, Peter decides to try again. But this time, he targets a different audience, the Black community. He buys commercial slots on BET, advertising sermons and asking for donations. He promises to heal people through the mail if they send him money. He also preaches the Prosperity Gospel, claiming that if people send him cash, God will bless them with wealth. And somehow, it works.
But Peter’s biggest scam is still to come. He starts selling Miracle Spring Water, holy water that allegedly heals sickness and makes people rich.
“You can be free to enjoy all of God’s richest blessings. That is why he wants to send you your free packet of Miracle Spring Water!”
And it works again.
By 2003, Peter and his organization are making over 9 million dollars a year. By 2005, they make 24 million dollars in one year alone. His church buys him a 4 million dollar mansion, tax-free, because the church owns it. Then, they buy him a Bentley.
And even today, he is still at it. He still preaches on TV. He still sells Miracle Spring Water in late-night infomercials. And people are still buying it.
