BREAKING: Mormons collected $100B - billion with a B - for charity but never distributed it.

In other news:

Sheep Shorn by Charlatans

Well, smell them!

Color us impressed - but 100B is still peanuts, bitches.

Religion may be second oldest profession but a least with the first oldest you get a happy ending for your cash.

Here's part of the article:

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.

The complaint provides a window into the closely held finances of one of the nation’s most visible religious organizations, based in Salt Lake City. It details a church fortune far exceeding past estimates and encompassing stocks, bonds and cash.

The complaint was filed by David A. Nielsen, a 41-year-old Mormon who worked until September as a senior portfolio manager at the church’s investment division, a company named Ensign Peak Advisors that is based near the church’s headquarters.

Nonprofit organizations, including religious groups, are exempted in the United States from paying taxes on their income. Ensign is registered with authorities as a supporting organization and integrated auxiliary of the Mormon Church. This permits it to operate as a nonprofit and to make money largely free from U.S. taxes.

The exemption requires that Ensign operate exclusively for religious, educational or other charitable purposes, a condition that Nielsen says the firm has not met.

In a declaration signed under penalty of perjury, Nielsen urges the IRS to strip the nonprofit of its tax-exempt status and alleges that Ensign could owe billions in taxes. He is seeking a reward from the IRS, which offers whistleblowers a cut of unpaid taxes that it recovers.

Yea whistleblowers!!!

They spent it all on Ann Romney’s inaugural gown in 2012.

LOL they’re the new Teamsters. How many casinos did they finance?

You don’t say?

Yup!

Raise your hand if this is news to you?

Well, crap.

Someone else for Ricky Schroder to punch in the face. And hard.

Oh, I think I know where some of it went.

Do your background research before donating, folks.

This is why I say be your own charity.

100 billion! Wow.

I'm sure they're stockpiling cash for all the lawsuits that will inevitably result when their pedophile scandals finally hit. As pervy as the Mormons are, they'll make the Catholic Church pedo scandal pale in comparison.

R6, you are wrong, some went for a jeweled bridle for Rafalca.

[quote]Mormons collected $100B - billion with a B - for charity but never distributed it...Article indicates LDS leaders misled members.

They are a money making enterprise operated for profit.

No one should be surprised that they've amassed such a large fortune since they REQUIRE member tithes.

[quote]Church general authorities today are given a "living allowance" taken from the church's business income.

[quote]the bishop or branch president schedules an annual tithing settlement meeting with each member of his ward or branch. In the interview, church members declare their status as tithepayers, and the leader records this on the church records.

Stop calling us Mormons!

...all while enjoying their tax exempt status...

Do they still own Gladys Knight’s fried chicken restaurant?

But their underwear is HOT!

Grifters

"Human resources department? Yes, cancel my tithe right now!"

They also collect all that interest on a billion $, tax free of course.

Oh my, a church that collects money and doesn't do anything but hoard it. No, you don't say!

Why is this shocking?

They have to find a way to finance sending Spencer and Brigham abroad to Antananarivo for two years somehow. Collecting souls isn't cheap!

It's a business enterprise, pure and simple. It owns numerous profitable businesses, which it encourages (forces) members to support:

Broadcasting/Publishing/Media ​

Bonneville International – Media holding company Bonneville Communications – Full service marketing firm. Bonneville Broadcasting – Radio stations 97.3 FM KIRO Radio Seattle 710 AM ESPN Seattle 770 AM KTTH Seattle 92.3 FM KTAR News Phoenix 98.7 FM Arizona Sports Phoenix 620 AM ESPN Phoenix 101 FM KOSI Denver 98.5 FM KTGO Denver 104.3 FM KKFN Denver 1600 AM KEPN Denver 102.7 FM & 1160 AM KSL Salt Lake City 103.5 FM KRSP Salt Lake City 100.3 FM KSFI Salt Lake City Bonneville Distribution – Distribution for TV & radio stations that broadcast Mormon Tabernacle Choir and LDS General Conference KSL 5 TV – NBC TV station Deseret Digital Media – Website management company Deseret News Publishing – News publishing company Deseret Book Co. – Religious goods retailer and distributor Covenant Communications Seagull Book & Tape Shadow Mountain Press Excel Entertainment The Pacific Business News – News outlet servicing Hawaii Real Estate ​

Hawaii Reserves – Hawaii real estate holding company Laie Water Company – Provides water to all of Laie Laie Shopping Center – 72,000 square feet of shopping and services Laie Park – Laie Hawaii park Laie Cemetery – Laie cemetary Hukilau Beach Park – Beach park in Laie Many other commercial & residential properties Property Reserve Inc – Real estate holding company Utah Property Management Associates – Real estate management company Commercial Properties: Beneficial Tower – 20 story office building World Trade Center – 366,696 square foot office building Deseret News Building – 9 story office building Eagle Gate Plaza – 11 story office and parking structure Key Bank Tower – 27 floor office building Social Hall Plaza – 6 floor office building Triad Tower – 3 buildings totaling 48,502 square feet Zions Bank Building – 18 floor commercial office building 139 E South Temple – 38,192 square foot office building JC Penney Building – 15 floor commercial office building Ensign Plaza South – 75,000 office building in Ogden Utah Regent Street – 47,970 square foot office building Orpheum Office Plaza – 24.682 square foot office building McIntyre Building – 11,065 square foot office building Gateway Tower West – 19 floor commercial building 40 East 100 South – 37,089 square foot office building Deseret Book Building – 48,612 square foot office building Residential Properties: Brigham Apartments – Apartment building in downtown Salt Lake Colonial Court Apartments – Apartment building in Ogden Utah Eagle Gate Apartments – Gateway Condominiums City Creek Landing – Apartment building in downtown Salt Lake West Temple Apartments – 8 story apartment building in downtown Salt Lake Garden Apartments – Apartment building in downtown Salt Lake First Avenue Apartments – Apartments in Salt Lake City Mixed Use Properties City Creek Center – 700,000 square foot mall in downtown Salt Lake Lake Park Corporate Centre – 260 acrea mixed use development Highbury at Lake Park – Mixed use development in West Valley, Utah Shoal Creek Valley (Liberty, Missouri) 1600 Vine Street Complex – Mixed use development in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

We are surprised by this.

ditto.

Other than some they gave me for campaigns and such, oh and various hair products and general hair care, I know nothing about this.

Amateurs

$100 billion dollars. The entire church should be stripped of it non tax status.

Hey, we’re doing our best, R34. We’re not as quick as we used to be.

[quote]"Human resources department? Yes, cancel my tithe right now!"

They tithe 1/10 of their kids?

That's just silly.

what biz did they prop up?

100b is a lot of money!!!

"100b is a lot of money!!!"

Chump change.

How exactly does tithing work? I hear various Christian churches in the US also expect/require tithing. Do you write a check to the church every week,month? Or set up a recurring bank transfer? Do they send around a basket during the services?

10% is a lot net salary to be handing over, I'm amazed that anyone does this. 10% of my salary is saved so if I was required to tithe I'd be living paycheck to paycheck. Do they take salary into consideration, is a factory worker expected to tithe less than an engineer? A DINK family expected to tithe more than a one income family with a bunch of kids?

I am shocked! Cult leaders can't be trusted??

Someone get Joe Smith on the phone!

A lot of pro sports people tithe. Esp in south american and they get screwed by the churches as well.

Split second reaction theory: The LDS church knew this info would come out eventually. They chose a moment of intense weakness in Trump's approval so that they could get Trump (and the Republicans) on board to argue against removing their tax exempt status. Democrats cant help themselves--all will call for the church to be taxed. Romney is going to look like a traitor if he votes to remove Trump from office while Dems are attacking the church and their tax exempt status.

R41, most people pay online now. The church’s only concern is that they get your money, so they try to make it as convenient as possible. While it can be done quarterly or even yearly, the church’s preference is that they get their cut as soon as people are paid thereby allowing less time for the money to be spent on other things.

There’s a private end-of-year interview with the bishop in which everyone is required to state whether they’re paid the full tithe, partial, or nothing at all. The bishop has the full accounting already, so the whole construct is mainly for shaming purposes.

Ten percent is considered a full tithe, regardless of income, and that’s what it takes to get a temple recommend. Older people have tended to base it on gross income but there’s been a shift toward using net (and worse, “surplus income”) which has the administration in a bind. There’s really no way for them to address the issue without alienating the people they’re desperate to keep.

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recorded its smallest membership growth in Utah in at least three decades this past year. And, in 2019, 14 of the state’s 29 counties saw the actual number of members decline.

The most significant drop came in Salt Lake County, which saw the roster of Latter-day Saints fall by 6,710 even as the state’s largest county grew by 10,000 people.

What’s happening in the heart of Mormondom? Why would Utah, a state with a vibrant economy and strong, consistent population growth, experience a sudden slowdown in the membership of its predominant faith?

That’s a hard question to answer because the organization with the most insight — the church itself — declined to offer any context.

But a review by The Salt Lake Tribune, relying on the insights of demographers and close observers of the church, indicates that the membership stagnation is likely due to a rise in resignations among disaffected and largely inactive members and major demographic trends seen in Utah, such as families having fewer children and more people, many of whom are not Latter-day Saints, moving here for jobs.”

Hasa Diga Eebowai

Since Utah is becoming more non-denominational, it might be a good “gay” state to move to.

Organized religion is the most successful con in human history.

[quote]That’s a hard question to answer because the organization with the most insight — the church itself — declined to offer any context.

A lot of younger people were turned off by Prop 8 and everything that followed but I think message boards and, later, groups like ex-Mormon on Reddit were responsible for people who were in so deep finally being aware that there’s a way out.

After a lifetime of stories about the horrors that befell people who left and the creepily ambiguous question so beloved by LDS parents — But where will you [italic]go[/italic]? — the impact of just being able to see people who are thriving after leaving the church can’t be overstated.

"I tried to read that book and have a burnin' bosom over it ... then I realized I just forgot to take my Prilosec."

The Church cares about tithing and revenue.

They done spent it all on dirty soda!

Mormon’s drug of choice is sugar.

R2 / R34 The esteemed WSJ estimates that the Romans only have a fraction of the Mormons' cash mountain.

The money’s in the magic underwear drawer, cunts.

Prophet Thomas Monson presided over the rapid expansion of the fund.

Don’t forget to add the Polynesian Cultural Centre on Oahu. That brings in a shitload of revenue every year. Run by the Mormans, and everything in there is ridiculously overpriced. It’s also my understanding that the church pays for post-education for its’ members. My aunt and uncle attended the BYU near the PCC, and they and their kids worked at the PCC.