It's one thing to claim an exemption for "a non-profit" status organization but when a for-profit religion is in the business of real estate development - and uses public taxpayers municipal funds to for all the underground infrastructure - it is time way over due to provide both "an abundance of clarity" and accountability.
That's no secret.
It's a smaller-scale 10-acre version of the 23-acre project called City Creek Mall in Temple Square.
< "City Creek Center Lite"@ SEC Main/Mesa Drive
The complaint alleges a series of payments from EPA totaling $1.4 billion to help construct the City Creek Center mall in Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, which features a retractable roof, luxury storefronts and simulated creek with live trout. The LDS Church and its developers aimed to create a new urbanism in downtown Salt Lake City. The success of that expenditure of billions is open to conflicting opinions.
...City Creek Center is being developed by Property Reserve Inc., the church’s real-estate development arm, and its money comes from other real-estate ventures. . .
The whistleblower complaint alleges that $1.4 billion of funding from EPA did go toward the mall project and came from a funding pool that included tithing dollars
> The mall opened in 2012 with 100 stores in more than 700,000 square feet of retail space and is part of downtown Salt Lake City revitalization plans that includes office space and residential towers.
When asked about tithe funds being used in the City Creek project contradicting what the church leaders said, LDS Church spokesman Eric D. Hawkins sent language from a church statement that said the City Creek development is a way “the Church enhanced the environs of Temple Square and underscored a commitment to Salt Lake City, Utah, where it is headquartered.”
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LDS members in the resulting nearly two centuries have founded companies, become elected to federal offices, state and local governments, and control major holdings in finance, insurance, real estate and finance, as well as media. Here in Mesa, it's a generations-old political machine supported by members of a network of stakes and wards, the public school system, and the police and fire/medical departments.
And, in the early days, LDS Church leaders set up hundreds of businesses in Utah and states like Arizona using "cooperatives" to help build a functioning economy.
Early efforts to force church members to patronize LDS-owned businesses led to the U.S. Congress passing the Edmunds-Tucker Act in 1887 to limit vertical integration and monopolies by the LDS Church.
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Whistleblower Alleges $100 Billion Secret Stockpile By Mormon Church
NEW YORK — A whistleblower complaint filed at the Internal Revenue Service in November by a knowledgeable church member alleges that a non-profit supporting organization controlled by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints used member tithes to amass more than $100 billion in a set of investment funds and the Church misled members about uses of the money.
The complaint may be the most important look at LDS finances in decades, a window into one of the wealthiest religious organizations in the United States and the world.
Details of the IRS filing reveal financial assets largely hidden from the church’s membership (often known as “Mormons”) and the public view.
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Ensign Peak Advisors' articles of incorporation confirm Ensign Peak is an arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
As registered under section 509(a)3 of the Internal Revenue Code, Ensign Peak Advisors, Inc. (EPA) is a “supporting organization” of the Church under article 3 in its registration document. Upon dissolution, all Ensign Peak assets go the Church or affiliated organizations according to article 5 and that article cannot be changed without “the written consent of The First Presidency” of the Church. Because Ensign Peak Advisers is a support organization to a church it is not subject to disclosure requirements that other non-profit organizations are required to make.
As registered under section 509(a)3 of the Internal Revenue Code, Ensign Peak Advisors, Inc. (EPA) is a “supporting organization” of the Church under article 3 in its registration document. Upon dissolution, all Ensign Peak assets go the Church or affiliated organizations according to article 5 and that article cannot be changed without “the written consent of The First Presidency” of the Church. Because Ensign Peak Advisers is a support organization to a church it is not subject to disclosure requirements that other non-profit organizations are required to make.
A former Church member in Minnesota named Lars Nielsen published a 74-page document filed with the IRS that makes several allegations.
The whistleblower document alleges that EPA has given away $0 to religious, educational or charitable purposes.
Non-profit experts such as Rieman note that EPA’s registration as a 509(a)3 supporting organization to the LDS Church could protect it from having to make charitable distributions because churches are not required to disclose finances to the public.
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pays all taxes that are required by law,” says an LDS Church statement about its tax status.
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In response to Religion Unplugged’s questions about financial disclosure, the church media relations department sent links to statements on the Church web site.
“While the Church chooses not to publish the details of its finances, the Church does provide public information on the financial principles it follows, the financial controls in place to protect Church funds and the source and use of these funds,”
according to a frequently asked question section on the LDS Church web site.
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Bloomberg News estimated the net worth of LDS church assets at around $40 billion in 2012. The whistleblower estimates a closer net-worth figure of the church could be $200 billion or more when you include EPA along with vast agricultural and property holdings.
A church-managed investment portfolio represents a newer area for the church.
Bloomberg News estimated the net worth of LDS church assets at around $40 billion in 2012. The whistleblower estimates a closer net-worth figure of the church could be $200 billion or more when you include EPA along with vast agricultural and property holdings.
A church-managed investment portfolio represents a newer area for the church.
When asked to confirm or deny the whistleblower allegation that the Church has amassed more than $100 billion in owned assets under management, the LDS Church spokesman pointed again to online statements from the church such as:
“The Church’s reserves are overseen by Church leaders and managed by professional advisers, consistent with wise and prudent stewardship and modern investment management principles. Ultimately, all funds earned by the Church’s investments go back to supporting its mission to invite souls to come unto Christ."
__________________________________________________________________________________> TIME reported in 1997 that $5.2 billion flowed into the LDS Church in 1996, dwarfing the pace of contributions received by other denominations.
It noted that the LDS Church sees tithes not just as tools for paying church staff and expenses but, rather, as venture capital to build new temples (normal activity for religious organizations) and also to invest in stocks and bonds as well as for-profit companies in agriculture, travel and real estate. . .
Brunson notes that some other churches are trying to improve financial disclosure.
The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) accredits churches that prepare accurate financial statements to be reviewed by an independent certified public accountant and which make their financial statements available upon written request.
“The LDS Church similarly has the option to make financial disclosure, whether or not the law demands it. Even without a secular obligation to disclose, the Church might view itself as subject to a divine disclosure mandate,” Brunson writes.
“But such a mandate does not explicitly exist in canonized Mormon scripture, and the evidence is strong that Church leaders have never believed they were under such a divine mandate, even at the beginning of the Church.”
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A cloak of secrecy > Please continue looking into it
The whistleblower complaint alleges that the EPA universe of assets grew by $90 billion between 2009 and 2019 and a large part of that growth came as run-off from tithing income to the church.
Religion Unplugged reached out to several former employees of EPA to hear their perspective on the firm and their response to allegations raised in the whistleblower complaint . . .
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The filing to the IRS alleges that EPA has made zero religious, educational or charitable distributions in 22 years.
According to tax experts, that may not be a problem for a 509(a)3 organization, depending on more nuanced details of its registration which are not publicly available on the IRS website or the organizations 990-t annual filings.
“EPA is the reserve of the reserves,” a whistleblower is quoted as saying in the document. It suggests tithing surplus flows to EPA where it is “merged, sliced and diced into portfolios and limited liability companies designed to fly under radars and reporting limits.”
The document obtained by Religion Unplugged makes several additional allegations about EPA.
The 74-page document filed with the IRS and obtained by Religion Unplugged shows that Ensign Peak Advisors, Inc. (EPA) owned assets under management grew to more than $100 billion from $10 billion in the past 22 years, fueled by a mix of investment strategy and tithe money from church members.
Religion Unplugged reached EPA’s managing director Roger Clark by phone on Monday, offering to explain key parts of this story and to ask questions for EPA to give a response. “We don’t really answer questions with the public press. So thanks,” he said, before hanging up the phone.
Ensign Peak Advisors' articles of incorporation confirm Ensign Peak is an arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As registered under section 509(a)3 of the Internal Revenue Code, Ensign Peak Advisors, Inc. (EPA) is a “supporting organization” of the Church under article 3 in its registration document. Upon dissolution, all Ensign Peak assets go the Church or affiliated organizations according to article 5 and that article cannot be changed without “the written consent of The First Presidency” of the Church. Because Ensign Peak Advisers is a support organization to a church it is not subject to disclosure requirements that other non-profit organizations are required to make.
. . . The whistleblower worked with Nielsen on a two-month research project to research and explain the inner workings of EPA.
> The complaint (Form 211) was filed with the IRS whistleblower office on Nov. 15, 2019 and received by the IRS on Nov. 22, 2019.
> Nielsen has chosen to go public with the allegations by releasing the report online and explaining the allegations in videos.
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A 7-minute summary of the full financial picture of America's wealthiest religion
Dec 20, 2019 - Uploaded by Letter to an IRS Director
According to the Nielsens, Ensign Peak Advisors has invested the church's annual surplus member
Dec 17, 2019
How can Ensign Peak Advisors qualify for their Tax Exempt Status? Successor ID Ensign Peak Advisors, Inc ...
Church Responds To Allegations Made By Former Employee ...
https://ksltv.com › church-responds-to-allegations-made-by-former-employee-in-irs-co...
Dec 17, 2019
Ensign Peak Advisors is an integrated auxiliary and supporting organization of the church and is tax exempt
Dec 20, 2019 - Uploaded by Letter to an IRS Director
The whistleblower allegation that Ensign Peak Advisors, an integrated auxiliary of The Church of Jesus Christ ...
Dec 20, 2019 - Uploaded by Church Newsroom
