Neither Clarke nor other officials would provide The Journal with details on the size of the churchs annual budget or how much money goes to Ensign Peak. Along with the quarterly SEC filings, EPA appears to be more recognizable as an institutional investor in public companies now. Get Contact Info for All Departments Ensign Peak Advisors Org Chart Ensign Peak Advisors. Fraudulent SEC filings: Nielsens document says EPA disguised its massive investment business by making filings with the SEC of Form 13F in the names of various LLCs more than 260 times over 10+ years, rather than in EPAs own name. I feel terrible for the members who have been contributing their entire lives only to find out that not only did the church not need the money, but that they aren't even using it to help those in need. If we truly believe that the world is going to fall into chaos before the second coming of Christ, does the church really believe that stocks and bonds are going to hold value then? Back to the article: Others may not be as concerned. Ensign Peak, Tithing, and Why the Church Claims They Hid it from Members (Feb. 10, 2020), Whenever we lead people in any way to believe something that is not true, That same poverty continues from one generation to another, until people pay their tithing, created a system of more than a dozen shell companies, earns a million dollars on the gain alone every single hour, Joseph Smith's implementation and use of polygamy and polyandry, Gospel Topics essay on Joseph Smith's polygamy, "Now You Know" video on the Word of Wisdom, Joseph Smith promising exaltation to marry the young daughters, shutting down questions about church history, God called the Native Americans Lamanites from Israel, God changed his mind in just 3.5 years on treating LGBT members as apostates, according to church historian Elder Marlin K. Jensen. Shortly afterward, Ensign Peak sold it all, judging from its absence in recent reports. That result would also encourage fraudulent claims of exempt status within the tax-exempt sector generally, and by non-exempt religious organizations in particular.. It said Huntsman would donate the money to groups he viewed as marginalized by the churchs teaching. There are families that are struggling and continue to pay tithing because they were taught that the church needs it more than they do (and that the prosperity gospel will reward them with blessings to make up for it), and yet church leaders have been lying to every one of these families about the church's own means. In the document, he argues that holding EPA accountable will promote better compliance by religious and other nonprofits with tax laws and will discourage fraudulent attempts by other organizations tempted to abuse exempt status.. From the Deseret News: "We preach tithing to the poor people of the world because the poor people of the world have had cycles of poverty, generation after generation," he said. So, yes, it is a remarkable trust in church leadership. Now he has a podcast about it. Ensign Peaks holdings include $40 billion of U.S. stock, timberland in the Florida Panhandle and investments in prominent hedge funds. Originally I didn't plan on doing a write-up because it was all happening during the holidays and I just did not have time to write about it, but this past weekend's Wall Street Journal article really articulated what is so frustrating about the church's lack of transparency on finances, and what we've noted when looking at a lot of other troubling topics of Mormonism - they simply do not trust their members with honest, complete information on their history or finances. But its lawyers go to great lengths in challenging Huntsmans lawsuit including filing rare financial documents under seal and blocking information from public view on others to show that no actual tithing went into those transactions. A judge could issue a ruling any day in that appellate case. Leaders of EPA declined to comment in the original stories at ReligionUnplugged.com. EPA started filing a quarterly 13F form on Feb. 14, 2020, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates publicly traded companies and other financial firms. Back to the article: "Clarke and former Ensign employees said the firm created a system of more than a dozen shell companies to make its stock investments harder to track. 72, No. And now that the church has now been caught doing so, their excuse is that it was to "protect them [active members of the church] from mismanaging their own funds with insufficient information?" Neilsen's complaint claims Ensign president Roger Clarke has said the fund would be used should the second coming of Christ occur, while the Post reported that high-ranking cleric Bishop. According to lead counsel for Mr. Nielsen, Michael A. Sullivan of Finch McCranie, LLP, the team representing Mr. Nielsen includes a former senior official of the SEC, more than one former federal criminal prosecutor, a former IRS Criminal Investigative Division agent, another former IRS official, and an international tax lawyer, all with decades of experience. That the church implies that they created over a dozen shell corporations because they were afraid members would either stop paying tithing or try to replicate their investment scheme is abhorrent just as the church hiding their true history from members even in the year 2020. He was a kid when the Swift raids split his family. Whether it's hiding church history, changing what the meaning of translation or 'curse of dark skin' is, or hiding finances in over a dozen shell companies, the leaders of this church simply do not believe that members will stick around if they are honest about their history or practices. But when Clarke says the gains are "mainly from returns on existing investments," he is being careful not to say that those "existing investments" were made with tithing money. Thank you for supporting local journalism. That was in keeping, they said, with then-church President Gordon B. Hinckleys declaration that the faith had a compelling responsibility to protect the environment of the Salt Lake Temple and that it was imperative to do something to revitalize this area.. The new document updates, reframes and renews allegations about Ensign Peak Advisors and the Latter-day Saints church. The complaint alleged thatEPA, a nonprofit registered as a 501(c)3 and a 509(a)3 supporting organization, did not make charitable distributions but that it did send $2 billion to help two for-profit companies. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. He urged the agency to strip the denomination of its tax-exempt status, saying Ensign may owe billions in taxes. That would mean the church isn't doing any better or worse than the average, which is what you'd expect from an organization that is run by men. BYU Marriott School of Business. We include specific empirical results that can be replicated as an exercise in data collection, programming, reporting, and analysis. . The final section of the article: Clarke also told The Journal he was misunderstood by Nielsen, who asserted that Clarke had said the church had mustered the money for Christs Second Coming. And any organization that threatens to take away your exaltation for helping local causes instead of their investment portfolio isn't worth your time, money, or worship. In the document, he estimates that his former employer has evaded payments of more than $20 billion in taxes and concealed foreign accounts that should total $2 billion in penalties. Harindra de Silva. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax Based on Clarkes statements, Nielsen said, it appeared the churchs public statements were intended to conceal the truth about EPAs use of tithing for both commercial ventures. Note: ReligionUnplugged.com will update this story with responses from relevant parties. The head of EPA, Roger Clarke, indicated to the Journal that EPA is a . This page was processed by aws-apollo-l1 in. For at least 22 years, EPA and certain senior executives have perpetrated an unlawful scheme that relies on willfully and materially false statements to the IRS and the SEC, so this for-profit, securities investment business that unfairly competes with large hedge funds can masquerade as a tax-exempt, charitable organization, the memorandum says. Cookie Settings. The complaint added that Roger Clarke, the president of Ensign, claimed that the investment branch collected the funds in preparation for "the second coming of Christ." Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. According to its first 2020 report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, filed months after allegations by whistleblower David Nielsen and his twin brother, Lars, made headlines, Ensign Peaks value was reported at $37.8 billion in stocks and mutual funds. After the stories broke in 2019, the churchpublished a statement to its members and constituents worldwide and posted three short videos to YouTube. Put another way, the man who claims to be the lone prophet of God on this Earth is telling people in the poorest areas of the Earth that without giving the church (worth $124 billion in this one investment fund alone) 10% of their income they not only will never get out of poverty, but they will be denied exaltation for eternity. Bouncing back since early 2020, Ensign Peak has posted quarterly gains of between $2.4 billion and $6.9 billion. As of mid-2021, it reported more than $2 billion each in companies specializing in software; internet services; semiconductors; other computer hardware; and biotechnologies behind new drug treatments. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' has a $100 billion portfolio, according to a 13F filing. It's the same reason that many believing members refuse to read anything that questions the church, which for many includes church sources and even the Gospel Topics essays. Ensign Peak Advisers, the non-profit that oversees the Church's portfolio, failed to comply with the regulator's disclosure rules by filing forms for shell companies that "obscured" the Church's investments, according to the SEC on Tuesday. That lines up with the information outlined from the 2009 release, and it also lines up with the church's announcement last year at General Conference that that have given $2 billion over 34 years through this fund. I can't overstate how blatantly dishonest this statement is, and the church absolutely knows how deceptive and insulting such a rationale for creating a system of shell companies to hide their wealth is. Ensign Peak's top stock holdings as of December 31 include Walmart, Microsoft, Apple, and JPMorgan. "In June 2019, the SEC first expressed concern about Ensign Peak's reporting approach," LDS said in a statement on Tuesday. To learn more, visit
In contrast, a long-only portfolio of individual securities, using the same risk model and return forecasts, captures most (e.g., 80%) of the potential improvement. Downloads 496 (82,744) That suggests a remarkable level of trust in church leadership, Sam Brunson, a professor of tax law at Loyola University in Chicago, told The Tribune, not just on spiritual/religious matters but also on more mundane secular matters.. The SEC requires any institutional investor with more than $100 million in assets to file a 13F. See all articles by Roger G Clarke Roger G Clarke. The 90-page memorandum obtained by ReligionUnplugged.com and embedded in this story summarizes evidence of false statements, systematic accounting fraud, private inurement violations of the Internal Revenue Code and other federal statutes and a Klein conspiracy by Ensign Peak Advisors, Inc. (EPA) and others.. 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