DFW Televangelist Returns PPP Loan After Questions About Private Jet

Televangelist Marcus Lamb returned a $3.9 million Paycheck Protection Program loan after Inside Edition raised questions about a private jet he recently purchased.

Lamb's Christian TV network Daystar Television received the federal loan designed so businesses can continue paying their employees in April. The network was valued at $230 million in 2010 and employs hundreds of people, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Two weeks after receiving the loan Daystar purchased a 1997 Gulfstream V, which can sell for up to $10 million, Inside Edition reported. The private jet can sit up to 14 people.

Lamb told the TV show that the jet is for ministry purposes while it found that Lamb and his family flew in the private jet from Dallas to Florida twice and another time to California. While his family's social media pages show them having fun at the beach or playing golf, Lamb said he attended meetings or other church business on those trips.

Daystar spokesperson Arnold Torres told the Dallas Morning News that the network used funds from a previous investment to purchase the jet. He also confirmed that the network paid back the loan "with interest."

“Daystar applied for a PPP loan because many experts were saying we might have another Great Depression. We wanted to make sure that our hundreds of employees would be paid and not lose their jobs,” said Torres.

Lamb isn't the only Texas televangelist under fire. Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Houston received a $4.4 million PPP loan. In 2015, it was estimated that Osteen had a net worth of over $50 million.

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