Bishop Anthony Jinwright told jurors Tuesday that everything he owns – house, cars, even his funeral home business – has been put up for sale.

“I pledge to certainly pay all the taxes that we owe,” he said during the first day of defense testimony in his trial on federal charges of fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion.

But determining how much the Jinrights owe in taxes might prove tricky.

In the separate indictments of Jinwright and his wife, Harriet, investigators initially put that figure at more than $85,000. But in court on Monday, an IRS agent said that, after listening to 13 days of testimony about potential income the Jinwrights received from 2002 to 2007, she had recalculated the figure at $664,352.

As for the Jinwright’s assets, many of the homes and luxury cars mentioned in their federal indictments were either leased or rented.

According to property record searches assisted by the Charlotte Observer, Qcitymetro’s online news partner, the Jinwrights own at least three properties (Photos below):

--A house in Cornelius with a current tax value assessment of $998,200.

--A property that houses a funeral home business in Pineville. That property has a current tax value assessment of $1,000,300.

--A property that houses a funeral home business on Statesville Avenue in Charlotte. That property has a current tax value assessment of $703,000.

It is also believed, based on court records and testimony, that the Jinwrights leased a 17,664-square-feet home in Cornelius that once belonged to the late NFL Hall of Fame player Reggie White. That home, currently owned by White’s widow, is assessed at $2,087,900.

In court Tuesday, Jinwright said “Everything that we have is for sale now.”

He also hinted that he might be having some difficulty selling his home: “The economy is tough for trying to sell a home,” he said, “but that doesn’t negate the fact that the sign is still up.”

As for his funeral home business, which he opened in 1996, Jinwright called it the fulfillment of a “lifelong dream.”

He said he first worked in a mortuary as a student in high school, then later as a $200-a-week pastor at Greater Salem Baptist Church, which he later renamed Greater Salem City of God.

Jinwright testified that he grew up in a family of nine in Wrightsville Beach. To earn money, he said, he worked as a restaurant busboy and “did odds and ends at different stores at the beach.”

He said he later attended Johnson C. Smith University but did not testify as to whether or not he graduated. In 1978, he said, he received a “call to ministry” and attended Hood Theological Seminary at Livingstone College in Salisbury, graduating in 1981.

Jinwright said he got a license in mortuary science in 1975 from a school in New York. He said he also hold a masters in ministry from Trinity College of the Bible and doctorate in ministry from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte.

Jinwright said his course work in college, seminary and mortuary school did not prepare him for the accounting responsibilities he would need to pastor a church or own a business.

Jinwright said although mistakes may have been made, he never instructed anyone to illegally shield any of his income from taxes. At the church, he said, he was never deeply involved in many day-to-day decisions.

“I left that kind of responsibility to them,” he said, “because I never sought to micromanage the administrative part.”

As for the future, he said, “I plan to be more attentive, especially in the areas of finance.”
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Charlotte Observer researcher Marion Paynter contributed to this report.

This 9,162-square-foot home in Cornelius, owned by Anthony and Harriet Jinwright, has a tax value of $998,200. It was purchased in 1998, the year it was built, for $963,500. It has five bedrooms, 4.5 baths and a three-car garage. The house is near Lake Norman but does not sit directly on the water. (Photo: James Willamor for Qcitymetro.com)

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This 7,248-square-foot building in Pineville is listed in tax records as being owned by A L Jinwright Funeral Service II Inc. Built in 1996, it has a tax value of $1,000,300. (Photo: James Willamor for Qcitymetro.com)

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This 9,056-square-foot building on Statesville Road in Charlotte is listed in tax records as being owned by Anthony and Harriet Jinwright. Built in 1996, it has a tax value of $703,000. (Photo: James Willamor for Qcitymetro.com)

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Court records and testimony indicate that the Jinwrights leased this 17,664-square-foot Lake Norman home from the widow of the late NFL Hall of Famer Reggie White. It has five bedrooms, seven full baths, two half baths, two piers, a boat ramp, a dock, a swimming pool and a three-car garage. Built in 2000, its tax value is $2,087,900. (Photo: James Willamor for Qcitymetro.com)

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This 23,162-square-foot church building in west Charlotte houses the congregation known as Greater Salem City of God and is not owned by the Jinwrights. Its current tax value assessment is $1,501,200. (Photo: James Willamor for Qcitymetro.com)

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This church building in Cornelius houses a second Greater Salem campus. Tax information was not immediately available. (Photo: James Willamor for Qcitymetro.com)

 

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