Mormon Church has misled members on $100 billion tax-exempt investment fund, whistleblower alleges

[Tbs77]

A former investment manager alleges in a whistleblower complaint to the Internal Revenue Service that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has amassed about $100 billion in accounts intended for charitable purposes, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by The Washington Post.

 

The confidential document, received by the IRS on Nov. 21, accuses church leaders of misleading members — and possibly breaching federal tax rules — by stockpiling their surplus donations instead of using them for charitable works. It also accuses church leaders of using the tax-exempt donations to prop up a pair of businesses.

 

A spokesman for the church did not respond to detailed questions from The Post about the complaint. “The Church does not provide information about specific transactions or financial decisions,” spokesman Eric Hawkins said in a statement.

 

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/mormon-church-has-misled-members-on-100-billion-tax-exempt-investment-fund-whistleblower-alleges/ar-BBY44Kd?li=BBnb7Kz&fbclid=IwAR1cCisT0fx18h_kN8IsCkl3zHNfFBkim9yQOhb1XjzlQYpeidpF8DWG5EI

 

https://amp.axios.com/mormon-church-100-billion-donations-whistleblower-c9ff816e-03e2-48dc-92e3-a5a4a2155363.html

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/mormon-church-has-misled-members-on-100-billion-tax-exempt-investment-fund-whistleblower-alleges/2019/12/16/e3619bd2-2004-11ea-86f3-3b5019d451db_story.html?outputType=amp

 

 

 

 

[tekmantwo]

39 minutes ago, Tbs77 said:

The Church does not provide information about specific transactions or financial decisions,” spokesman Eric Hawkins said in a statement

I read this article earlier tonight, got it from another source...

 

The article is pretty bad, not the writing or editing, just the subject matter and conclusions.

 

I started down the rabbit hole that is the comment section but drug myself out before too long, it is quite the quagmire.

 

One comment was from the whistleblowers brother, Ian.

 

He stated that his brother, David, was not being vindictive and had no particular malice towards any individual, its just that he was somewhat grief stricken by what he had seen and read and wanted to see some kind of justice done...

 

It's coming, David, its coming....and it won't be late......

[JennyM]

After the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic, now the mormons. 

 

These are evidences that the wild beast will attack the harlot very soon. 

 

 

[Dustparticle]

1 hour ago, JennyM said:

After the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic, now the mormons. 

 

These are evidences that the wild beast will attack the harlot very soon. 

 

 

 This might lead those who honest hearted might come into the truth.

[Dages]

They are saving to build the Nauvoo  

[Thesauron]

They are saving to build the Nauvoo  

Nice. The Wikipedia article reads: “The LDS Church sponsors numerous activities throughout the year in Nauvoo including The Nauvoo Pageant (July/August). The community sponsors the Grape Festival (Labor day weekend) and Pumpkin walk (October).” Nothing at all about helping people build a personal relationship to God.

It also says: “Nauvoo has many places of worship, among them: United Methodist Church, Christ Lutheran Church, St Peter & Paul Catholic Church, First Presbyterian Church, Cornerstone of Zion Church, Nauvoo Baptist Church, a Community of Christ congregation, and various Wards of the LDS Church.” To be fair, our Kingdom Hall, the only place where you can learn about the God of the Bible, is just across the river - a 34 minute drive (or 10 by boat, I guess). If only people would listen...

[Dages]

1 minute ago, Thesauron said:

Nice. The Wikipedia article reads: “The LDS Church sponsors numerous activities throughout the year in Nauvoo including The Nauvoo Pageant (July/August). The community sponsors the Grape Festival (Labor day weekend) and Pumpkin walk (October).” Nothing at all about helping people build a personal relationship to God.

It also says: “Nauvoo has many places of worship, among them: United Methodist Church, Christ Lutheran Church, St Peter & Paul Catholic Church, First Presbyterian Church, Cornerstone of Zion Church, Nauvoo Baptist Church, a Community of Christ congregation, and various Wards of the LDS Church.” To be fair, our Kingdom Hall, the only place where you can learn about the God of the Bible, is just across the river - a 34 minute drive (or 10 by boat, I guess). If only people would listen...

Ha, no, that's a The Expanse book/tv show reference, sorry  

[Thesauron]

Ha, no, that's a The Expanse book/tv show reference, sorry  

The town has a long history with the LDS before they came to Salt Lake City, and they’re involved with preservation work there.

[.Ivan.]

My neighbour was first mormon member in my country, 1990. he married american woman and she gave him birth to 6-7 children. After that he found 25 years younger wife and make with her few more childs. After all he sexually abused some young neighbour, she escaped.
That curch is so far away from truth..

[Omoyeme]

From the WP article:

 

Quote

According to the complaint, Ensign's president Roger Clark has told others that the amassed funds would be used in the event of the second Coming of the Christ.

 

[Dustparticle]

By reading this article, red flags were raised up years ago. Why haven't the IRS hasn't pick up on this??

[Nirex]

On 12/17/2019 at 4:11 AM, JennyM said:

After the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic, now the mormons. 

 

These are evidences that the wild beast will attack the harlot very soon. 

 

 

But the IRS is just America. Is the UN or other countries really going to care about this incident?

[CHecker]

I 'went down the rabbit hole' and read the whole article, which I seldom do. Oh my, this is crazy. Billions, that's huge. And to not account for its use. I can't imagine the (greedy) government letting THAT go. 

[Tbs77]

I 'went down the rabbit hole' and read the whole article, which I seldom do. Oh my, this is crazy. Billions, that's huge. And to not account for its use. I can't imagine the (greedy) government letting THAT go. 

Paragraph 4 from last week's article:

"We do not know what reasons the nations might give to justify their attack on Babylon the Great. They might say that the world’s religions are an obstacle to peace and that they constantly meddle in politics. Or they might say that those religious organizations have accumulated too much wealth and property."

Let's keep on the watch...

[CHecker]

9 minutes ago, Tbs77 said:

Paragraph 4 from last week's article:

"We do not know what reasons the nations might give to justify their attack on Babylon the Great. They might say that the world’s religions are an obstacle to peace and that they constantly meddle in politics. Or they might say that those religious organizations have accumulated too much wealth and property."

Let's keep on the watch...

Good one, so true. Love how timely Jehovah's words are

[Thesauron]

From the WP article:
 

According to the complaint, Ensign's president Roger Clark has told others that the amassed funds would be used in the event of the second Coming of the Christ.

 


Nobody told them they’ve missed it? And Jesus was perfectly able to take care of his people without an amassed fortune on their side.

[trottigy]

On 12/17/2019 at 8:54 AM, Dages said:

Ha, no, that's a The Expanse book/tv show reference, sorry  

https://expanse.fandom.com/wiki/Nauvoo_/_Behemoth_/_Medina_Station

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ChocoBro]

I'm trying to rack my brain how 15 million people can get 100 billion dollars together. It's not like the Mormons don't also have projects, building projects and missions that don't consume resources..

 

Unless this money has been amassing for decades, it seems like somebody was using the Mormon Church to funnell funds into some offshore tax haven.

[Bob]

I'm always really skeptical of claims of former members-turned-"whistleblower" of any religion. Most times, these people don't hesitate to lie to justify themselves, or they try to use the government as their puppets. 

 

These people just don't like how religions here are tax exempt. They just want to see them bankrupted by the government. 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2019 by Bob

[Buddy]

You make a really good point there

[ChocoBro]

13 hours ago, Bob said:

I'm always really skeptical of claims of former members-turned-"whistleblower" of any religion. Most times, these people don't hesitate to lie to justify themselves, or they try to use the government as their puppets. 

 

These people just don't like how religions here are tax exempt. They just want to see them bankrupted by the government. 

 

 

That's a bad attitude to have in my opinion. According to that logic, the ones blowing open sex-abuse cover-up scandals of the Catholic Church just want to see the Church damaged?

 

Just because most people leaving the JWs harbor some resentment and engage in negative and slanderous behaviour doesn't mean you need to compare everybody critical of their ex-religion to them. Sorry.

[Bob]

6 hours ago, ChocoBro said:

That's a bad attitude to have in my opinion. According to that logic, the ones blowing open sex-abuse cover-up scandals of the Catholic Church just want to see the Church damaged?

 

Just because most people leaving the JWs harbor some resentment and engage in negative and slanderous behaviour doesn't mean you need to compare everybody critical of their ex-religion to them. Sorry.

Well, the RCC admitted to the scandal and the roles of the priests in the coverup. They admitted to it back in 2002 when they promised change, and also, Frances admitted to it several times. So its not quite the same seeing how the horse opened its mouth and admitted to it. 

 

You have to take the testimony of former members with a grain of salt, even "moderate" ones who claim to hold no grudges. One quote comes to mind from a sociologist:

 

Quote

“There is no denying that these dedicated and diehard opponents of the new religions present a distorted view of the new religions to the public, the academy, and the courts by virtue of their ready availability and eagerness to testify against their former religious associations and activities. Such apostates always act out of a scenario that vindicates themselves by shifting responsibility for their actions to the religious group. Indeed, the various brainwashing scenarios so often invoked against the new religious movements have been overwhelmingly repudiated by social scientists and religion scholars as nothing more than calculated efforts to discredit the beliefs and practices of unconventional religions in the eyes of governmental agencies and public opinion. Such apostates can hardly be regarded as reliable informants by responsible journalists, scholars, or jurists. Even the accounts of voluntary defectors with no grudges to bear must be used with caution since they interpret their past religious experience in the light of present efforts to re-establish their own self-identity and self-esteem." - 

Lonnie D. Kliever, Ph.D., Professor of Religious Studies - (Emphasis mine)

 

In reality, many people agree with anything negative or unflattering said about a group they don't belong to. I have worked hard to treat the testimony of former members of other groups, with the same level of healthy skepticism that I do with ex-JWs. 

[ChocoBro]

11 hours ago, Bob said:

Well, the RCC admitted to the scandal and the roles of the priests in the coverup.

Do some research into how long these allegations were denied. It starts with a single voice of dissent. Then more join in. Then pressure amounts. And suddenly, they "admit to it". Until they do, they would be labelled something like an "apostate" by those in denial.

 

Your comment gives me the impression that you forget that our organization, though human and thus flawed, has Jehovah's backing as opposed to these other groups that are of satanic origin and part of the harlot Babylon the Great.

 

So I never, ever put opposers of BTG into the same category as ex-Witnesses. But do whatever works for you.

Edited December 31, 2019 by ChocoBro

[Bob]

2 hours ago, ChocoBro said:

Your comment gives me the impression that you forget that our organization, though human and thus flawed, has Jehovah's backing as opposed to these other groups that are of satanic origin and part of the harlot Babylon the Great.

 

So I never, ever put opposers of BTG into the same category as ex-Witnesses. But do whatever works for you.

Don't you believe that statement may be kind of harsh?

 

I don't know what my belief that we have Jehovah's backing has to do with my skepticism of former members of BTG. However, I believe and know with certainty that BTG has been lied on by their former members before, and are currently lied on. For us to have the truth, that doesn't require us to monopolize being lied on or persecuted.  

Edited December 31, 2019 by Bob

[ChocoBro]

5 minutes ago, Bob said:

For us to have the truth, that doesn't require us to monopolize being lied on or persecuted.  

Jesus said

 

Quote

11 “Happy are you when people reproach you and persecute you and lyingly say every sort of wicked thing against you for my sake.

Matthew 5:11

We do have a particular monopoly in terms of vicious lies being spread about us. That's because Satan, the father of the lie, hates us most.

 

I'm not saying you should blindly believe anything that an ex-member of a religion tells you. But I think it's wrong to compare the malicious accounts of ex-Witnesses to

- stories of Church sex-abuse cover-ups

- stories of fraudulent abuse of the tax exemptation status of churches

- ex-Muslim ("apostates") demanding equality for women and denouncing Mohammed as a man of violence

- science-fiction stories about alien overlord Xemu disposing of alien souls on a volcano on Earth

 

It simply isn't the same because those religions and religious institutions are bad.

Edited December 31, 2019 by ChocoBro