State attorney general settles case against Jim Bakker

SBJ file

Jim Bakker is required to pay restitution for selling a supposed COVID-19 cure.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt's office reached a settlement in a case filed last year against Branson-area televangelist Jim Bakker and Morningside Church Productions Inc.

Bakker and Morningside, which produces "The Jim Bakker Show," have been ordered to pay $156,000 in restitution and to no longer sell or advertise a product called Silver Solution as a COVID-19 cure, according to a news release.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commission last year issued a cease-and-desist letter to Bakker and his show for allegedly claiming the unapproved solution could cure coronavirus without providing scientific proof that it can do so. The FDA continues to issue warning letters to sellers of fraudulent COVID-19 cure products, according to its website.

Schmitt said in the release the consent judgment obtained against Bakker and Morningside creates "strong safeguards to prevent the marketing of Silver Solution as a cure or treatment for COVID and other medical issues."

“My office will continue to work tirelessly on behalf of Missouri consumers, and will not hesitate to take action when those consumers are being defrauded," the attorney general added.

Bakker already has refunded a number of customers, officials said. Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge also is seeking restitution.

Bakker previously served five years in federal prison in the 1990s following fraud charges tied to his Christian-based theme park Heritage USA in Fort Mill, South Carolina. His show is shot on a multimillion-dollar, nearly 600-acre estate in Blue Eye.