Tomorrow we can sell it and it will come back with a return.' Officials have denied any wrongdoing, with presiding Bishop Gerald Causse saying: 'It’s not an expenditure. He also said the firm illegally used tax-exempt donations to bail out two failed business ventures during the recession, specifically a life insurance company and construction of the City Creek Center.Ĭompanies found guilty of reporting crimes are typically punished with fines by the Securities and Exchange Commission
His report alleged Ensign made no charitable donations despite being considered a tax-exempt charity. Nielsen argued the church owes billions of dollars in taxes and he wants a cut of that as part of a reward the IRS offers whistleblowers. The church’s members worldwide are encouraged to give 10 percent of their income to the church in what is known as tithing.
He alleged that the church used money meant to charitable donations for financial investments. Nielsen first began to blow the whistle on Ensign's activities in 2019. US law says that ignorance or oversight is not a defense as investigators do not have to prove intent in violating the law, just that the law was violated.Ī former SEC investigator Robert Plaze told WSJ, 'The SEC is concerned when people don’t file their 13-F reports because it’s information the market isn’t getting that it’s entitled to get under the law.' Investment companies are required by law to publish the names of the US-stocks that they manage. stock, in addition to investment in prominent hedge funds like Bridgewater Associates LP and timberland in the Florida panhandle, according to current and former employees. Holdings are said to include $40billion in U.S. Whistleblower David Nielsen, a former employee of Ensign Peak Advisors, the church's investment firm, testified that the fund maintained foreign accounts, had given deceptive statements to the IRS and made fraudulent statements to the SEC The church's biggest investments, which has referred to as a 'rainy day fund,' include Apple, Google's parent Alphabet, Tesla, Meta, JP Morgan Chase and Exxon. The size of the fines being sought by investigators is not known at this point, according to the Wall Street Journal. The fund is thought to manage around $100 billion worth of investments.Īn LDS spokesperson, Doug Anderson, did not confirm the investigation telling the newspaper, 'The church works with many government regulators to ensure we are in compliance with the law. We take those responsibilities very seriously.' The SEC has typically punished this types of violations with fines. The Mormon Church's financial management arm is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission over efforts to keep its billion dollar investment fund a secret.Įarlier this week, whistleblower David Nielsen, a former employee of Ensign Peak Advisors, the church's investment firm, testified that the fund maintained unreported foreign accounts, had given deceptive statements to the IRS and made fraudulent statements to the SEC.
0 kommentar(er)
