Class Action Alleges Ravi Zacharias International Ministries Used Donor Money to Finance Leader’s Sexual Misconduct

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Two Nevada residents who donated $30,000 to Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) aim to represent a class of donors whose money they allege went not to the organization’s Christian apologetic outreach efforts but instead financed the activities of “a prolific sexual predator” who abused his position to “perpetrate sexual and spiritual abuse against women.” 

The 30-page proposed class action alleges Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, a 501(c)(3), has, since at least 2004, deceived scores of faithful Christians and bilked donors out of “tens—if not hundreds—of millions of dollars” they believed would fund the organization’s stated mission of “spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ and training disciples to defend Christianity around the globe.” 

In truth, the defendants—RZIM, RZIM Productions and Margaret Zacharias, as administrator of evangelist Ravi Zacharias’s estate—deceptively solicited and used donor money to finance Zacharias’s sexual misconduct, “including, but not limited to, financing massage spas where Zacharias engaged in sexually predatory behavior and paying hush money to targets of his sex abuse,” the lawsuit alleges. 

The plaintiffs allege the defendants have violated the Georgia Charitable Solicitations Act by deceiving the public to solicit funds for their personal or business purposes. From the complaint: 

“Defendants operated a fraud on Plaintiffs, the putative Class, and the public with each acting to hide the true nature of RZIM and its leader, Zacharias. Defendants affirmatively misrepresented that funds donated to RZIM were to support its purported mission of Christian evangelism, apologetic defense of Christianity, and humanitarian efforts, when such funds were used to support and hide Zacharias’s sexual abuse. Defendants further misrepresented that they were faith-filled Christians of upstanding moral character. Thus, Defendants’ misleading solicitations constitute deceptive acts and practices.” 

The allegations in the proposed class action lean on an independent report, conducted by Miller & Martin PLLC and published on February 9, 2021, that found significant evidence, including texts, emails and photos, of sexual misconduct by Zacharias involving massage therapists. The investigation into Zacharias’s alleged conduct began after a September 20, 2020 Christianity Today article detailed allegations of sexual assault and other sexual misconduct against the posthumously defrocked evangelist, the filing shares. 

According to the suit, Zacharias, who founded the ministry in 1984 and grew it into a more than $26 million operation as of 2014, was an investor in two Alpharetta, Georgia health spas, Touch of Eden and Jivian Wellness, located at the same address. Per the case, Zacharias was known to frequent these spas for massage therapy. The lawsuit states that nearly two dozen massage therapists reported that Zacharias had engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior during his sessions, including “nudity, maintaining an erection, asking therapists to touch his genitals and groping.” 

“One witness reported ‘details of many encounters over a period of years that she described as rape,’” the filing says, adding that Zacharias provided this particular witness with financial support, elicited “personal information about a difficult past” and used “religious language during their encounters.” 

Zacharias would demand sex from women after providing for their financial needs, the lawsuit continues. Per the complaint, Zacharias would reference “godly” men in the Bible who had more than one wife, thereby preying on the spiritual faith and vulnerabilities he fostered with the women he subjected to abuse, the suit says.

“Zacharias groomed the women he preyed upon, learning about their personal lives, struggles and vulnerabilities after gaining their trust as their ‘spiritual guide, confidante, and notable Christian statesman,’” the case reads, noting later that some women did not come forward with their allegations against Zacharias for fear that no one would believe them, in part because of his status as a “prominent Christian leader.” 

In 2017, a woman named Lori Anne Thompson brought allegations of sexual misconduct by Zacharias directly to RZIM leadership and/or its board of directors, the lawsuit says. In response, Zacharias “claimed innocence and threatened to leave” the ministry, and RZIM in turn “steadfastly defended Zacharias and did not investigate Thompson’s allegations” despite receiving an apparent “notebook of evidence,” the suit alleges.

According to the lawsuit, the failure of ministry leadership to so much as consider the allegations against Zacharias allowed RZIM and Zacharias himself to continue to fundraise while deceiving the public as to his alleged standing as a Christian leader. 

“RZIM’s actions and failure to respond appropriately to reports of Zacharias’s sexual misconduct furthered the public deception that Zacharias was a faith-filled, moral, and upstanding Christian leader,” the suit scathes. “RZIM’s acts and omissions further allowed Zacharias to continue sexually abusing women under the cover of Christian ministry and permitted Zacharias’s ongoing, deceptive fundraising efforts for RZIM.”

The plaintiffs say that it was during this time, when RZIM continued to defend and support Zacharias and prior to other allegations of sexual misconduct coming to light, that they made their donation in support of the Christian apologetic mission. 

According to the lawsuit, funds donated to RZIM were funneled to women subject to Zacharias’s sexual misconduct:

“Zacharias provided money to these survivors, gave them large tips following massages, and showered them with expensive gifts. In one instance, Zacharias paid $40,000 for a sexual abuse survivor’s culinary schooling. In addition, Zacharias traveled with a personal massage therapist, whom RZIM paid.”

The case also said RZIM funneled monetary support into a discretionary fund called Touch of Hope, which was earmarked as a “humanitarian effort” but actually served as a large chunk of payments wired to “or for the benefit of” four women who were, at some point, Zacharias’s massage therapists. 

The suit looks to represent all persons in the United States who made donations of monetary value to Ravi Zacharias and/or the Ravi Zacharias International Ministry from 2004 through February 9, 2021.

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