A former senior portfolio manager who worked at the investment arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints alleges the firm masqueraded as a charity and violated its tax exempt status by directing funds built from member donations to bail out business with ties to the church.
David Nielsen filed a whistleblower complaint with the IRS in 2019. Nielsen says that during his nine years working at Ensign Peak Advisors, the value of the firm's investments ballooned past $100 billion. In his first public comments, Nielsen told 60 Minutes the firm used false records and statements to appear as a charity, while stockpiling money and misleading the church members.
"I thought we were going to change the world," Nielsen said. "And we just grew the bank account."
Each year, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints collects an estimated $7 billion in contributions from its 17 million members. The church expects members to participate in tithing by contributing about 10% of their income. Tithing is used to pay the church's bills and fund the church's programs. Whatever is left over, about $1 billion a year, is put into a reserve fund at Ensign Peak and invested.
As a registered nonprofit, those investments grow tax free, Nielsen said. Since it was created in 1997, he says the fund has swelled beyond $100 billion.
"You could solve big problems with $100 billion," Nielsen told 60...
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