A lawsuit recently filed by the former head of finance for the Trinity Broadcasting Network claims that the directors of the widely-viewed Christian television network have illegally taken advantage of more than $50 million in “charitable assets” for their own good.

Brittany B. Koper, granddaughter to TBN founders Paul and Jan Crouch, previously served as the chief financial officer, director of finance, corporate treasurer and director of human resources for Trinity Christian Center of Santa Ana, which conducts business as TBN. Tymothy MacLeod, Koper’s attorney in the lawsuit, believes that what Koper has revealed explains a lot about the Crouch family’s spending habits.

“Observers have often wondered how the Crouches can afford multiple mansions on both coasts, a $50 million jet and chauffeurs,” MacLeod said, according to The Orange County Register. “And finally, with the CFO coming forward, we have answers to those questions.”

Koper is not suing TBN, however. These allegations are part of a lawsuit against her former attorneys from the Long Beach law office of Davert & Loe – Douglass S. Davert, David C. Loe and Benjamin N. Flint III. She is accusing these attorneys, who also do some work for TBN, of breach of duties, inflicting emotional distress and professional negligence.

After Koper took charge of TBN’s finance department, she allegedly discovered illegal financial practices on the part of the company’s directors, but was told to protect the information.

“Following her appointment, Ms. Koper was specifically instructed to falsify public financial disclosures, to falsify government records, and to otherwise cover up conduct of the TBN Companies and their directors that Ms. Koper reasonably believed to be unlawful,” the suit claims.

When she approached the defendant attorneys about the situation, they allegedly advised and encouraged her to do as she was told, and said she “really [had] no choice in the matter.”

The suit says Koper was pressured by TBN’s directors and senior executives, who told her she could be arrested if she tried to report any illegal financial practices. When she sought the help of the attorneys regarding what she had been told, they allegedly agreed and said she would be considered an “accomplice” and discouraged her from sharing any information.

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