DISGRACED US TELEVANGELIST JIM BAKKER DIES AT 86

Controversial religious broadcaster who built a multi-million-dollar television empire before serving prison time for fraud passes away at age 86

Jim Bakker, the prominent American televangelist who co-founded the immensely popular "The PTL Club" empire before his career collapsed amid a massive financial and sex scandal, has died at the age of 86.  

His death was announced in a statement by his second wife, Lori Bakker, who noted that he passed away after dedicating decades of his life to Christian ministry.  

Alongside his first wife, the late Tammy Faye, Bakker rose to global prominence in the 1970s and 1980s through their satellite television network and the multi-million-dollar Heritage USA Christian theme park.  

However, the televised empire disintegrated in 1987 following revelations of a sexual liaison and hush-money payments, which triggered sweeping investigations into the ministry's finances.  

Bakker was subsequently convicted in 1989 on multiple counts of mail and wire fraud and conspiracy, serving nearly five years in federal prison before his release in the mid-1990s.

In later years, he returned to religious broadcasting, launching "The Jim Bakker Show" based in Missouri alongside his second wife, where he continued preaching and promoting apocalyptic themes until experiencing health setbacks, including a stroke.  

Religious historians and media analysts remember his career as one of the most polarizing and dramatic rises and falls in the history of modern religious broadcasting.