US law says that ignorance or oversight is not a defense as investigators do not have to prove intent in violating the law, just that the law was violated.Ī former SEC investigator Robert Plaze told WSJ, 'The SEC is concerned when people don’t file their 13-F reports because it’s information the market isn’t getting that it’s entitled to get under the law.' Investment companies are required by law to publish the names of the US-stocks that they manage. stock, in addition to investment in prominent hedge funds like Bridgewater Associates LP and timberland in the Florida panhandle, according to current and former employees. Holdings are said to include $40billion in U.S. Whistleblower David Nielsen, a former employee of Ensign Peak Advisors, the church's investment firm, testified that the fund maintained foreign accounts, had given deceptive statements to the IRS and made fraudulent statements to the SEC The church's biggest investments, which has referred to as a 'rainy day fund,' include Apple, Google's parent Alphabet, Tesla, Meta, JP Morgan Chase and Exxon. The size of the fines being sought by investigators is not known at this point, according to the Wall Street Journal. The fund is thought to manage around $100 billion worth of investments.Īn LDS spokesperson, Doug Anderson, did not confirm the investigation telling the newspaper, 'The church works with many government regulators to ensure we are in compliance with the law. We take those responsibilities very seriously.' The SEC has typically punished this types of violations with fines. Nielsen did not respond to the Post’s request for comment-but his brother, Lars, told the Post that David wanted a newspaper to write an exposé on Ensign.The Mormon Church's financial management arm is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission over efforts to keep its billion dollar investment fund a secret.Įarlier this week, whistleblower David Nielsen, a former employee of Ensign Peak Advisors, the church's investment firm, testified that the fund maintained unreported foreign accounts, had given deceptive statements to the IRS and made fraudulent statements to the SEC. The church told the Post it does not “provide information about specific transactions or financial decisions,” while Clarke and David A. Neilsen’s complaint claims Ensign president Roger Clarke has said the fund would be used should the second coming of Christ occur, while the Post reported that high-ranking cleric Bishop Gérald Caussc gave a March 2018 speech in which he connected the “prophecies of last days” to setting aside some “revenues each year to prepare for any possible future needs.”.nonprofits, including religious organizations, are tax exempt, but Neilsen’s complaint says Ensign should be stripped of its tax-exempt status by the IRS because it has not used the $100 billion on charitable works. Accompanying the complaint is a 74-page narrative by Neilsen, who alleges Ensign stockpiled $100 billion in charitable donations and deceived church members by doing so.Neilsen, a 41-year-old church member who worked for Ensign as a portfolio manager-but his twin brother, Lars, provided the Post with a copy of the complaint. The complaint was filed with the IRS on November 21, 2019, by David A.The fund is held by Ensign Peak Advisors, the church’s investment arm.
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