A whistleblower has accused Ensign Peak Advisors, the investment arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of operating as a "clandestine hedge fund" and amassing a $100bn investment portfolio. The whistleblower, a former portfolio manager at Ensign, claims that the church has misled members about its use of their donations and has not used the funds for charitable purposes. The church has denied the allegations and stated that it follows all applicable laws and accounting principles.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has called a recent "60 Minutes" episode on its investment portfolio "unfortunate" and based on "unfounded allegations." The segment featured a former portfolio manager accusing Ensign Peak Advisors, the church's investment arm, of violating its tax-exempt status and stockpiling over $100 billion instead of using it for charitable purposes. The church defended its financial responsibility and having adequate resources to fulfill its responsibilities, while referring to Ensign Peak as a "rainy day fund." The church declined to address assertions that the Ensign Peak assets have reached as much as $150 billion.
A former portfolio manager at Ensign Peak Advisors, the investment arm of the LDS Church, has alleged that the church has built a reserve fund worth north of $100 billion and has violated its tax-exempt status in doing so. In his first on-camera interview, the whistleblower sounded sincere when he said, “I thought I was going to work for a charity … and the funds were never used for that.” The CBS newsmagazine let the church have its say, but a high-ranking church official looked evasive and the church did not come off looking good. The report revealed that the church went to “great lengths” to hide $32 billion in securities over 20 years, creating 13 shell companies.
A former investment manager for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has accused the organization of stockpiling more than $100bn in funding intended for charity work but never spent it on such projects. The church's investment firm, Ensign Peak Advisors, acted as a "clandestine hedge fund" and dodged billions of dollars in taxes by falsifying records, according to whistleblower David A Nielsen. The church paid $5m to resolve its SEC case in February, but experts say the likelihood of the IRS investigating Nielsen's claims is low.
A former investment manager for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has accused the faith's investment arm, Ensign Peak Advisors, of illegally relying on its tax-exempt status to stockpile over $100 billion in investments built from members' tithing, which were never used for charitable works. The church's leader has defended the financial practices, stating that Ensign Peak held asset reserves as an auxiliary of the church, "providing us with those resources that we need in order to operate as a church." The whistleblower has called for Congress to investigate the church's financial practices.
A whistleblower from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints appeared on 60 Minutes to discuss the alleged misuse of church finances. David Nielsen, a former employee of the church’s investment firm Ensign Peak Advisors, claimed the misuse of billions of dollars in tithes. Nielsen reportedly sent a 74-page letter to the IRS alleging the stockpile and misuse of the tithing money. In February of 2023, the SEC charged the church and Ensign Peak Advisors for failing to file forms that would have disclosed the church’s investments. To settle the charges, Ensign Peak agreed to pay a $4 million penalty, while the church itself agreed to pay a $1 million penalty.
A former manager at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' investment firm, Ensign Peak Advisors, has blown the whistle on the church's alleged "clandestine hedge fund" worth over $100 billion. David Nielsen alleges that the funds were used in ways that bent the law and broke his faith, and that Ensign Peak violated its tax-exempt status by moving money to for-profit businesses. The Securities and Exchange Commission fined the church and Ensign Peak a total of $5 million for failing to file accurate reports on its holdings with the SEC. Nielsen filed a 74-page whistleblower complaint with the Internal Revenue Service, and if the IRS decides Nielsen is right, he could be rewarded with up to 30% of what's collected.
David Nielsen, a former Ensign Peak portfolio manager, blew the whistle on the Mormon Church's investment arm to the IRS in 2019, alleging that the church had accumulated $100 billion in assets and used the money to bail out businesses with church ties, violating its religious tax exemption status. The church was fined $5 million in February for using shell companies to hide the size of a $32 billion equity portfolio. Church leaders have denied the allegations. Nielsen, a devout Mormon, felt a calling to serve his church and community but turned to the government as "integrity is at stake."
A former senior portfolio manager at Ensign Peak Advisors, the investment arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has alleged that the firm violated its tax-exempt status by directing funds built from member donations to bail out businesses with ties to the church. David Nielsen filed a whistleblower complaint with the IRS in 2019, alleging that the firm used false records and statements to appear as a charity while stockpiling money and misleading church members. The SEC fined the Mormon church and Ensign Peak a total of $5m in February for using shell companies to obscure the size of its investment portfolio.
