Husband and wife founders of Miami megachurch spar over possible $120M estate in messy divorce
Pastor Guillermo Maldonado and prophetess Ana Maldonado, the husband and wife team that birthed the Miami-based King Jesus International Ministry, one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing Hispanic churches, are now sparring over an estate that court papers say could be worth as much as $120 million.
Ana Maldonado filed for divorce from her husband, who was also an outspoken supporter of former President Donald Trump, after 32 years of marriage last year. In the initial filing, she alleged that he was emotionally and verbally abusive to her. She also alleged that she has reason to believe he is illegally profiting from the megachurch.
According to Ana Maldonado’s financial affidavit cited by the Miami Herald, they own a home in southwest Miami-Dade, a property in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, and another in Treasure Cay in The Bahamas. They also own property in Opa-locka and Hialeah along with a 2020 Mercedes, a Lexus LX, plus a Falcon 50 business jet registered in Florida under the church’s name. The plane alone, according to Evojets, can range in price from $4.5-$6.5 million.
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While she claims to know little about the family finances, Ana Maldonado claims in a preliminary financial affidavit that she and her husband own a “possible boat,” valued at an unknown amount. She also thinks there might be assets in Italy, Honduras and Colombia that attorneys said could amount to as much as $120 million.
Ana Maldonado is asking the court to award her the main marital home, attorneys’ fees and an “equitable” distribution of their assets.
She argues that she was pressured by her husband to sign financial documents but he kept financial information hidden from her, removed her from marital funds and prevented her from speaking to their two adult sons.
Guillermo Maldonado’s lawyers have denied the allegations, however, noting that the disputed properties were transferred to the estranged couple’s son, Ronald Maldonado, in January 2020 and he is now the owner of the marital home.
“She bizarrely and falsely alleges in her amended petition that she is estranged from both of her sons, and that Ronald is ‘unaware of these transfers being in his own name,’” Kathleen Phang, Guillermo Maldonado’s lawyer, wrote in a court filing, according to the Miami Herald. “However, she and Ronald currently live together under the same roof, so she could simply ask Ronald about the transfers, but she does not do so.”
At the center of the dispute is whether the church might have violated the “Inurement Prohibition,” which is an IRS rule that forbids board members, trustees and other key employees at 501(c)(3) organizations from directly profiting from a charity.
“[W]hether [the church] is compliant with the law... is exactly what Wife is asking this court to adjudicate,” Christina Echeverri, one of Ana Maldonados’ lawyers, wrote in a court filing. Ana Maldonado, she notes, “has reason to believe that the church” is misusing funds.
The church, however, denies any claims it violated the Inurement rule.
“Any accusations that it has knowingly engaged in private inurement transactions are false and irresponsible,” King Jesus International Ministry said in a statement to the Miami Herald. “In 2020, alone, it gave away over 21 million pounds of food, almost 92,000 meals and over $780,000 in direct financial assistance to over 64,000 households and 53 churches and organizations.”
Ana Maldonado now has her own competing church she calls Tabernáculo de su Presencia a las Naciones, which meets online and at the DoubleTree by Hilton Convention Center.
King Jesus International Ministry International did not immediately respond to calls from The Christian Post Thursday.
