SOUTHLAKE (TX)
The Roys Report [Chicago IL]
October 16, 2025
By Liz Lykins
Gateway Church has now been accused of violating a law that has been used to prosecute everything from organized crime operations to pro-life groups.
A year ago, a group of four church members from the Dallas-based church filed a financial fraud lawsuit against the controversy-ridden church. They alleged that the church fraudulently claimed that it gave 15% of its members’ tithes to global missions when in reality, it did not.
According to the suit, Gateway should have given a minimum of $15 million a year to global missions, as the church had an annual revenue of around $100 million. However, the suit claims Gateway only gave away $3 million a year.
This week, the group ramped up the seriousness of their allegations, contending that the church has violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
The amended suit said that Gateway engaged in a “pattern of racketeering activity” through mail fraud and wire fraud. The financial deception occurred when Gateway falsely represented where its tithes went, and by promising tithers that they could receive a return of their tithes for any reason, the lawsuit said.
Because Gateway used wire emails, online statements, mail, and more to “disseminate false and misleading information” to church members across the country, the church’s actions should be prosecuted as violating RICO.
“If they made these promises with no intention to keep them, that’s fraud,” Katherine Leach, one of the plaintiffs, told The Roys Report (TRR). “They refused to show us where that money went and who it went to, and they refused to give us our money back and keep their promise.”
Gateway has been embroiled in controversy since Cindy Clemishire accused the church’s founder Robert Morris of sexually abusing her. Earlier this month, Morris pleaded guilty to sexually abusing Clemishire for years in the 1980s, beginning when she was just 12.
TRR reached out to Gateway for comment, and a spokesperson for the church declined to comment.
Gateway induced giving
To violate RICO, at least two acts of fraud must have occurred within a 10-year period and across multiple state lines, the lawsuit states. Morris and other church leaders asked for tithes from people across the country during sermons and through e-commerce platforms.
The lawsuit accuses Gateway of fraud by contending that the church promoted where its tithes would go to “induce” people to give. But the church allegedly only gave away a small portion of the tithes it promised to global missions.
These “false pretenses” of giving have caused plaintiffs to suffer substantial damages, including the loss of their tithe money, the lawsuit said.
The RICO Act allows prosecutors in this case to take action against the entire church and charge multiple people in the same case.
In criminal cases, RICO penalties can tally up, including a fine of up to $25,000 and imprisonment for up to 20 years for each count.
In a civil case like this one, defendants charged with RICO violations can pay up to triple damages to plaintiffs. Additionally, plaintiffs can have their legal costs covered and move their case to federal jurisdiction, which means a neutral venue and broad discovery tools, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The RICO Act violations are the fourth claim to be made in the lawsuit. The suit also alleges that the church has engaged in misrepresentation and fraud, breach of contract, and individual fraud by Morris and former Executive Pastor Steve Dulin.
Violating the RICO Act is “serious,” Leach said.
To her, the key to the church’s violations is the money-back guarantee they’ve repeatedly made. Morris has “promised on multiple occasions that if the congregation is not happy with the use of its money, it can get the money back,” according to the suit.
Leach asked Gateway to return her tithe money, but the church has yet to do so.
Allen Shoulders, who worked on staff at Gateway from 2011—2014, previously told TRR that the church never dispersed more than $3 million to global missions in any given year.
“I think the connotations of a church being associated with organized crime is not good,” Shoulders said. “It should never happen.”
Shoulders, who is not part of the lawsuit, said that if Gateway truly made promises to induce giving, and then didn’t keep those promises, “that meets the definition of fraud, so I guess it will be up to the courts to decide that.”
Where are the decades of audits?
Leach said the amended lawsuit also highlights Gateway’s continual refusal to provide independently audited financial statements after numerous requests from the plaintiffs.
“Gateway refused to be transparent when trying to answer even simple questions about the use of tithing dollars,” the lawsuit said.
Leach noted that the group’s attorneys have granted a protective order of confidentiality to the church to receive the audits, but Gateway denied this.
Please see original article for Facebook post.
“We want to verify that the tithe money, that people gave in good faith, that it (has been) handled with integrity,” Leach said. “And they keep refusing to show us that that can be verified.”
She added, “This lawsuit was filed as a last resort because of their failure to cooperate and show us the books.”
Despite this, Tra Willbanks, an elder at Gateway, continues to assert that the church regularly conducts audits.
Just this August, Willbanks doubled down on this, saying in a taped message that the church is committed to financial integrity and accountability. The church has independently done audits that go “back for years and years,” he said.
Additionally, the claim that the church hasn’t given 15% “was and is false.” Instead, accountants at the company Baker Tilly have reportedly determined that the church goes above and beyond in its giving.
“They have no problem providing audits to other people while we remain empty-handed handed and that only raises more concerns,” Leach said. “We’ve been asking to see the books for well over a year, and we’re still waiting.”
Judge denies Gateway’s dismissal request
Shoulders previously told TRR that Gateway did not conduct any audits during his time on staff. Gateway instead conducted financial reviews, which “are not designed to detect errors or fraud.”
This week, Shoulders emphasized to TRR the issue is not about whether Gateway has audits or not, but rather where Gateway’s money has gone.
“The question that plaintiffs are asking is very simple. They are asking, where did the mission money go, when, and to whom?” he said.
Shoulders said he isn’t trying to accuse the church of anything, but The fact that Gateway isn’t scrambling to show where the money has gone raises the plaintiffs’ suspicions.
“Wouldn’t a church be more than proud to show where they were generous and what the impact of that money was?” he asked.
In a small win for the plaintiffs, Gateway and Robert Morris’ motions to be dismissed from the suit were deniedin September, according to court records. Leach called the move, “a significant step in the right direction to address the (church’s) series financial discrepancies.”
This article has been updated, including with a statement regarding Gateway’s decline to comment.