An IRS whistleblower claims the LDS Church used $1.4 billion in tithing to finance a shopping mall.
If you paid tithing to the LDS Church any time from 2003 to 2012, you may have a claim.
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LDS Church Fraud Allegations
In 2019, David Nielsen, a senior portfolio manager with the investment division of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (“LDS Church”), filed an IRS whistleblower complaint alleging that the LDS Church used $1.4 billion in member donations (tithing) to finance a for-profit, commercial shopping mall, City Creek Center. The complaint further alleged that the LDS Church should lose its tax exempt status because the money was not used for charitable purposes, noting that the Church had amassed over $100 billion in assets while the investment division had not returned any money for religious, educational, or charitable purposes in 22 years.
During the construction of City Creek Center, LDS Church leaders made public statements that no tithing funds would be used to finance the construction of the mall or for any commercial purpose. In his IRS whistleblower complaint, David Nielsen explicitly contradicts these statements, alleging that the $1.4 billion to finance the mall was drawn from an account containing never-invested, surplus tithing funds—not from any liquidation of allocated capital.
LDS members and former members may feel frustrated that their tithing funds—donated for religious, educational, and charitable purposes—were allegedly used for a commercial purpose, despite the fact that LDS Church leaders explicitly represented that tithing funds would not be used to finance the mall or for any commercial purpose.
If you paid tithing to the LDS Church any time from 2003 to 2012, you may have a claim. Jacob Flint has represented clients in consumer fraud and class action lawsuits based on fraud and/or misrepresentation.