>>> GOOD EVENING. WAS HER MINISTRY ABOUT GOD OR WAS IT ABOUT GWEN? GWEN SHAMBLIN WHO CREATED A CHRISTIAN DIET PLAN THAT BECAME ITS OWN RELIGION, OF COURSE, DIED IN A PLANE CRASH IN MAY. >> THAT CRASH ALSO KILLED HER HUSBAND AND FIVE LEADERS OF HER BRENTWOOD CHURCH. AS NEWSCHANNEL5'S CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, PHIL WILLIAMS, DISCOVERED SHAM BIN'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT IS REVEALING QUESTIONS ABOUT HER MINISTRY AND HER MONEY. >> Reporter: OUR INVESTIGATION FIRST RAISED QUESTIONS ABOUT GWEN SHAMBLIN 20 YEARS AGO, BUTT REST OF THE COUNTRY IS GETTING TO KNOW HER THROUGH A NEW HBO MAX SERIES, A SERIES THAT LABELS HER CHURCH AS A CULT. NOW WE'VE DISCOVERED THE ESTATE SHE LEFT BEHIND, POTENTIALLY WORTH MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, IS CERTAIN TO ADD TO THOSE QUESTION >> IT IS MY PRAYER FOR YOU TO BE BORN AGAIN. >> Reporter: GWEN SHAMBLIN WAS A CONTROVERSIAL FIGURE AND HER DEATH INTO PERCY PRIEST LAKE THAT KILLED HER, HER HUSBAND AND FIVE LEADERS OF HER CHURCH COULD BRING CONTROVERSY FOR SHAMBLIN'S LEGACY. >> THIS MONEY, HALF OF IT GOES TO -- THE OTHER HALF GOES TO KEEP IT GOING SO SOMEONE CAN BE HELPED. >> Reporter: IT WAS A LEGACY ABOUT FALSE CLAIMS ABOUT HER OWN WEALTH. HALF AND HALF LEAVES NOTHING FOR GWEN SHAMBLIN. THAT'S NOT COMPLETELY TRUE. >> YES, IT'S COMPLETELY TRUE. >> I HATE TO SAY THIS TO SOME DEGREE BECAUSE SHE'S DECEASED, BUT SHE STRUCK ME AS 100% PHONY. AS A GRIFFTER. >> Reporter: GARY BLACKBURN SUED SHAMBLIN 20 YEARS AGO. >> THE MONEY IS GOING TO GO TO DAVID AND I. >> Reporter: GETTING HER TO ADMIT UNDER OATH THAT SHE WAS IN DEEP PROFITING FROM MINISTRY, YET LISTEN TO WHAT HER DAUGHTER TOLD FOLLOWERS YEARS AGO. >> SHE PRACTICALLY HANDED MICHAEL AND I'S INHERITANCE AWAY. [ LAUGHTER ] >> Reporter: A WILL THAT LEAVES EVERYTHING TO HER TWO CHILDREN, LIKE GARY BLACKBURN WE NOTICED ONE OMISSION. HOW MUCH MONEY WAS LEFT TO REMNANT FELLOWSHIP? >> I'VE LOOKED AT THE WILL A COUPLE OF TIMES AND I HAVEN'T SEEN ANY. >> Reporter: IN A WRITTEN STATEMENT THE CHURCH CLAIMED THE SHAMBLIN'S DONATION OF THE CHURCH PROPERTY AND BUILDING TWO DECADES AGO WAS WORTH ABOUT $10 MILLION, AND THAT SHE HAD HANDED HER PUBLISHING RIGHTS OVER TO THE CHURCH. IT CONCLUDES THIS WAS AN INCREDIBLE GIFT OF GENEROSITY FROM GWEN AND HER FAMILY'S INHERITANCE AND THE CHURCH WOULD NEVER EXPECT NO MORE. >> IT WAS NEVER INTENDED TO BE ACCUMULATED, BUT USE ONE SMALL TOOL TO BUILD UP THE KINGDOM OF GOD. >> Reporter: SHAMBLIN WAS ONE-THIRD OF THE WAY THROUGH A NINE-WEEK VIDEO SERIES IN GREED IN WHICH SHE URGED FOLLOWERS TO BE PREPARED TO GIVE UP EVERYTHING. >> IF YOU CLING TO YOUR MONEY YOU'RE GOING TO LOSE IT, BUT IF YOU GIVE IT UP YOU'LL FIND IT AGAIN. >> Reporter: IRONICALLY IN 2018 LESS THAN TWO MONTHS BEFORE SHAMBLIN MARRIED JOE LAURA IN A REMNANT FELLOWSHIP WEDDING SHE ENTERED INTO A DIVORCE AGREEMENT WITH HER FIRST HUSBAND, DAVID. THAT AGREEMENT FILED IN COURT DETAILS HOW THE COUPLE WOULD SPLIT 18 SEPARATE PIECES OF PROPERTY. THOSE PROPERTIES OUR INVESTIGATION DISCOVERED ARE NOW VALUED AT MORE THAN $20 MILLION. SHE ALSO HAD TO PAY DAVID ANOTHER $3 MILLION OUT OF HER OWN POCKET. >> SO ACCUMULATE THAT MUCH MONEY MEANS TWO THINGS. ONE IS YOU HAVE TREMENDOUS CASH FLOW. AND SECONDLY, YOU'RE NOT CONTRIBUTING A WHOLE LOT TO MISSION WORK. >> Reporter: AMONG THE PROPERTIES THAT THE WOMAN OF GOD GOT TO KEEP IN HER DIVORCE OUR INVESTIGATION DISCOVERED WAS AN ELEGANT BEACH HOUSE IN DESTIN, FLORIDA. A HOUSE THAT WAS DESCRIBED IN REAL ESTATE LISTINGS AS GULF FRONT LIVING AT ITS FINEST. LOCATED RIGHT ON THE GULF OF MEXICO THIS WAS SHAMBLIN'S BEACH HOME WITH ITS FOUR BEDROOMS AND FIVE BATHS LOCATED IN A GATED COMMUNITY KNOWN AS DESTINY BY THE SEA. PROPERTY RECORDS SHOW THE SHAMBLINS PAID ALMOST $2 MILLION IN 2010. IT'S NOW VALUED BY ZILLOW AT MORE THAN $4 MILLION. AN OLD LISTING FOR THE HOME BOASTED OF ITS MASTER BEDROOM WITH A GULF VIEW WITH HIS AND HER MASTER BATHROOMS AND A LAVISH LIBRARY. >> JOE LIKES SCUBA DIVING. SEE THAT, IT SPELLS SCUBA. >> Reporter: THIS VIDEO WHICH ENDS WITH A DISCUSSION OF JOE'S LOVE OF SCUBA DIVING APPEARS TO BE RECORDED FROM THE BALCONY OF THAT BEACH HOUSE. >> WE CAN GO TO POMPENOS NOW. >> Reporter: BACK IN BRENTWOOD JUST DOWN THE ROAD FROM THE CHURCH THE DIVORCE SETTLEMENT SHOWS SHAMBLIN GOT TO KEEP THE COUPLE'S PRE-CIVIL WAR PLANTATION HOME. THE CURRENT VALUE OF THAT PROPERTY ABOUT $7 MILLION. THIS IS WHAT SHAMBLIN TOLD US 20 YEARS AGO ABOUT HER LUXURIOUS HOME AND FANCY CARS. >> IF IT WAS NEEDED THEN I WOULD SELL THAT CAR. I'D SELL THAT HOUSE. >> Reporter: BUT YOU HAVEN'T. >> IT'S NOT NEEDED YET, PHIL. >> Reporter: THERE'S NO ONE WHO COULD USE THE MONEY FROM -- >> I'M TALKING ABOUT THIS MINISTRY, AND IT MAY HAPPEN. BELIEVE ME. THAT HOUSE IS GOD'S. >> Reporter: YET AFTER HER SECOND MARRIAGE PROPERTY RECORDS SHOW SHE STARTED TRANSFERRING HER HOLDINGS INTO REMNANT'S NAME AND SHIELDING THE REAL IDENTITY OF THE OWNERS. THE BEACH HOME IS LISTED AS THE 4714 OCEAN TRUST, ASH LONG AS TH 902 FRANKLIN TRUST. AND CENTER HILL LAKE AS A HIGHWAY 56 FIRM TRUST. >> MOST OF THE WORLD HAS ABANDONED TRUE RELIGION AND ARE NOW CONVERTS TO BUILDING UP THEIR OWN POCKETBOOKS, YET GOD IS A GOD OF JUSTICE, AND HE WILL NOT BE MOCKED. >> Reporter: LESS THAN FOUR WEEKS LATER SHAMBLIN WOULD DIE IN THAT PLANE CRASH. AS A RESULT WE MAY NEVER GET CERTAIN ANSWERS ABOUT HOW MUCH WEALTH SHE REALLY ACCUMULATED ABOUT WHY HER WILL FAILS TO EVEN MENTION HER BELOVED REMNANT FELLOWSHIP. WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU? >> IT SUGGESTS TO ME, PERHAPS I' CYNICAL, IT SUGGESTS THE ACCUMULATION WAS NOT FOR GOD, IT WAS FOR GWEN. >> Reporter: SHE REACHED THAT SETTLEMENT WITH HER FIRST HUSBAND YEARS AGO AFTER FILING THIS SUBPOENA TO REVEAL ALL PAYMENTS AND FRINGE BENEFITS FOR HER AND JOE LAURA AS WELL AS ANY NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENTS THAT THE CHURCH HAS SIGNED WITH CURRENT OR FORMER MEMBERS. AS A RESULT OF HER SETTLEMENT THAT INFORMATION NEVER BECAME PUBLIC. >> THIS IS QUITE A STORY, PHIL, AND PHIL HAS BEEN TRACKING THIS STORY FOR DECADES. YOU CAN ACCESS HIS INVESTIGATIONS AND READ GWEN
