Brittany Koper: TBN Whistleblower, Allegations, and Fallout

Brittany Koper is the granddaughter of Trinity Broadcasting Network founders Paul and Jan Crouch who, after a brief stint as TBN’s chief financial officer in 2011, became the whistleblower who accused the family of diverting roughly $50 million or more in tax-exempt donations to personal use. Her allegations, filed in federal court in early 2012, triggered years of lawsuits in both directions, exposed lavish spending inside the world’s largest religious broadcaster, and helped bring separate abuse allegations against the Crouch family into public view.¹

Her Role Inside TBN

Koper is the daughter of Paul Crouch Jr., who served as TBN’s vice president and chief of staff, and the granddaughter of Paul Sr. and Jan Crouch, who co-founded the Christian television network in the 1970s. By 2010 the network reported $93 million in donations and listed assets above $750 million, and its governing board consisted of only three people: Paul Sr., Jan, and their son Matthew Crouch.²³

Koper was promoted to CFO on July 5, 2011, and named corporate treasurer that August. She also ran human resources. Her husband, attorney Michael Koper, worked in TBN’s legal department and held titles including corporate secretary and vice president.⁴⁵ According to her later lawsuit, the promotion gave her a close view of what she described as a systematic diversion of charitable assets. She said she was instructed to participate in illegal financial schemes and was fired on September 30, 2011, for refusing. Her father and husband were terminated the same day.⁶

What She Alleged

Koper’s federal lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in California in February 2012, estimated the unlawful financial transactions at the network exceeded $50 million. A later filing in 2015 put the figure closer to $100 million.¹⁴

She described her own job in blunt terms: to “label extravagant personal spending as ministry expenses” so it would not attract IRS scrutiny.⁷ The specifics she laid out included:

His-and-her mansions one street apart in a gated Newport Beach community, one valued at $5.6 million, with additional homes in Texas, Tennessee, and Orlando.
Corporate jets valued at $8 million and $49 million, and a Bentley used to chauffeur Paul Crouch.
At least $300,000 a year in meal expenses apiece for Paul, Jan, and Matthew Crouch on “working dinners” with fine wines.
Two adjacent hotel rooms at the Loews Portofino Bay in Orlando rented for nearly two years in 2008 and 2009, one for Jan Crouch and one for her dogs and clothing.
A motor home purchased as an office that was reportedly used as an air-conditioned kennel for Jan’s dogs.
Dozens of staff members, including chauffeurs and sound engineers, ordained as ministers so the network could avoid Social Security taxes and justify rent-free “parsonage” homes for family.⁷

She also alleged that TBN funneled roughly $50 million into Gener8Xion Entertainment, a film company owned by Matthew Crouch, through “sweetheart deals,” with the network recouping little and forgiving large sums in exchange for broadcast rights of “limited value.” TBN officials acknowledged authorizing more than $32 million in donor money for three Matthew Crouch films, including $16 million for “Megiddo: The Omega Code 2.” TBN attorney Colby May denied the characterization, saying the contracts were “at arm’s length.”⁷⁸

A 2011 IRS compliance review by the Dallas accounting firm Guinn, Smith & Co. provided independent support for parts of her account. It concluded that TBN’s record-keeping was “at best sloppy and at worst could be construed by the IRS as ‘noncompliance’ with tax law,” flagging unreasonable compensation, personal use of organizational assets, and large undocumented credit card charges, including a $15,328 charge at an Orlando Harley Davidson dealership. TBN spokesman Colby May dismissed Koper’s supporting documents as “altered documents or fakes.”⁹

How TBN Fought Back

TBN did not treat Koper as a whistleblower. The network filed multiple lawsuits against her and her husband, alleging they had used “forged documents to embezzle funds to buy cars, jewellery and a fishing boat.”¹⁰ Colby May called her accusations “bold faced lies.”¹ A debt collection entity called Redemption Strategies Inc., incorporated by a TBN attorney, sued Michael Koper for allegedly embezzling “more than $1 million,” later adding Brittany and two of Michael’s relatives as defendants.¹¹

Koper said that when she was fired she was forced to surrender her house, condominium, life insurance policy, car, furniture, and jewelry as what TBN characterized as “an act of Christian contrition.”¹¹ She also alleged that Matthew Crouch had threatened her and Michael with a loaded gun during a meeting in a TBN conference room, tapping the firearm while questioning her about a memo criticizing his financial conduct.⁴

The sheer volume of TBN’s filings drew a rebuke from U.S. District Judge David O. Carter. After reviewing six duplicative lawsuits across different jurisdictions, Carter wrote that TBN had “failed to show that it is not a vexatious litigant” and said the pattern lent “credence to Michael and Brittany’s contention that these lawsuits are retaliation for whistleblowing about Plaintiff Trinity’s extensive fraud.” He held off on formally designating TBN a vexatious litigant on the condition that it comply with new filing requirements for any future suits against the Kopers.¹²⁵ TBN’s embezzlement lawsuit against the Kopers was ultimately dismissed.¹⁰

The Personal Cost

The litigation damaged the Kopers severely. Michael Koper filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on August 14, 2013. Two TBN entities filed proofs of claim against him totaling $7.7 million and sought to block the debts from discharge, arguing they arose from fraud, embezzlement, and unauthorized use of a corporate charge card. In October 2015, he signed a stipulation conceding to allegations of fabricating evidence and fraud on the court and agreeing that his debts to TBN’s entities were not dischargeable. In December 2016, the court awarded TBN’s entities $332,418.96 in fees and costs against him.¹³¹⁴

On July 20, 2022, the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, disbarred Michael Koper. The court found he had manipulated his computer’s internal clock to backdate documents, installed software to overwrite and destroy evidence, illegally accessed confidential corporate records, and fabricated emails. It called the conduct a “planned, sophisticated and continuing and protracted course of conduct” to “cheat the law and the legal system” and noted that Koper showed no “regret, repentance, or remorse.” The opinion referenced Brittany Koper as Michael’s “agent” in fabricating evidence and destroying records, though she was not separately charged in that proceeding.¹⁴ Brittany and Michael later divorced, and court records refer to her as Brittany Davidson.¹³

What Her Disclosures Helped Surface

Koper’s accusations drew public attention to abuse claims against the Crouch family. In 2012, her sister Carra Crouch sued the Trinity Christian Center of Santa Ana, alleging that in 2006, when she was 13, she had been drugged and raped by a TBN employee during a Praise-a-Thon event in Atlanta. Carra said that when she reported the assault, her grandmother Jan Crouch called her “stupid” and told her it was “her fault.” TBN general counsel John Casoria, also a family member, allegedly told her he did not believe her and suggested she may have “propositioned” the employee. The lawsuit alleged TBN officials failed to report the suspected child abuse as required by law. The accused employee was fired but never arrested or charged.⁵¹⁵

In June 2017, an Orange County jury awarded Carra Crouch $2 million, finding Jan Crouch 45 percent liable for the emotional harm. The trial court reduced the award to $900,000 through remittitur, and in 2019 the California Court of Appeal affirmed, with Justice Richard D. Fybel writing that Jan Crouch’s conduct was “extreme and outrageous” and “exceeded all possible bounds of decency.”¹⁶¹⁷

Brittany Koper herself described a 2004 incident in which Paul Crouch Sr. and church officials in Manhattan pressured her to consume large amounts of alcohol and vomit in what reporting characterized as a hazing ritual.⁵

Where TBN Is Now

Paul Crouch Sr. died on November 30, 2013, at age 79. Jan Crouch died in 2016.³¹⁶ Matthew Crouch became president and chairman. Under his leadership TBN sold its 65,000-square-foot Costa Mesa headquarters, unloaded the Newport Beach mansion for more than $5 million, and in 2021 sold the Holy Land Experience theme park in Orlando. Paul Crouch Jr. left TBN and found work with a different Christian broadcaster.⁵⁶

Public filings show the network reported $105 million in revenue and nearly $676 million in net assets for fiscal year 2023. Matthew Crouch received total compensation of roughly $969,000 through related entities that year, and Colby May received $617,868. The filings also show the organization continued to provide first-class or charter travel to key employees or officers every year from 2011 through 2023.¹⁸ No criminal charges were brought against any TBN executive in connection with Koper’s allegations.

1
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2
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3
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4
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Orange County Register. Trinity Broadcasting Escapes Vexatious Litigant Label — For Now
13
U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of New York. Memorandum Decision and Order, Case No. 8-13-74213
14
Justia. Michael Koper Disbarment Opinion
15
Orange County Register. Suit Alleges TBN Covered Up Rape of 13-Year-Old
16
Los Angeles Times. Trinity Broadcasting Network History
17
California Court of Appeal. Crouch v. Trinity Christian Center of Santa Ana, G055602
18
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