(The Center Square) — A Tennessee financial firm is auditing the records of a Detroit megachurch's nonprofit after The Center Square's investigation uncovered numerous potential errors in the nonprofit's annual tax filings, according to the firm's leader.

For years, the nonprofit filed tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service that showed Perfecting Church's leader, Pastor Marvin Winans, was being paid more than $500,000 annually for part-time work and that the nonprofit had no other paid employees.

Winans himself had signed the filings of the nonprofit — Perfecting Community Development Corporation — to signify he had reviewed them and they were accurate. He did not respond to repeated requests from The Center Square to comment on its findings before they were published, but thereafter he told his congregants he has received no money from the nonprofit.

Winans has been fundraising to finish construction on a new church that has been in the works for more than 20 years. He was widely criticized last year for publicly scolding a parishioner who gave a too-small donation of $1,235.

Michael Chitwood, the chief executive of Tennessee-based Chitwood & Chitwood, traveled to Detroit last week to speak at Perfecting Church's Sunday service, during which he repeatedly said Winans was not paid by the nonprofit and blamed himself for mistakes on the filings.

"That is why our legal department has now taken over all of the records," Chitwood said, according to the church's video recording of the service. "They came in on Friday and they took all of the records of Perfecting, and now they are doing a complete audit for Perfecting Development Corporation."

He continued: "When the legal review has been completed, then and only then will we be amending these returns and filing with the IRS."

But that appears to conflict with what his employees have said. Jennifer Nixon, Chitwood's accounting director, already provided amended returns to The Center Square with no salaries listed for Winans early this month, along with confirmation codes from the IRS that indicated they had been filed.

Nixon did not respond to a request to clarify the situation. The IRS has declined to comment, citing privacy laws.

The annual tax returns of nonprofits are public records.

The Center Square's investigation also noted potential errors in the amended returns, including that they still specified the nonprofit had no employees and that Winans works 20 hours each week for the nonprofit. A Chitwood employee told The Center Square last week that Winans doesn't work there.

Michael Chitwood told Perfecting Church's congregation there is no better preacher than Winans, but that "he does not understand taxes."

"That's not his job," Chitwood said. "Now he is smart and he has some knowledge of it, but that's what he hires and pays me for, is to make sure it's perfect. ... I give you my word it will be perfect before it goes to the IRS."