CitizenVectron Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 Feds fine Mormon church for illicitly hiding $32 billion investment fund behind shell companies WWW.NBCNEWS.COM The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints engaged in the scheme for more than 20 years. That'll teach 'em! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subzwari1987 Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 Cost of doing business carrying God’s work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 The church was fined $1 million and the investment firm that facilitated the hiding was fined $4 million. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bacon Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneticBlueprint Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 The Mormon church actually encourages you to replace the phrase “the church” with “Jesus Christ” when you feel you’re about to criticize it. So the headline should read “Jesus Christ fined $1 million…” Anyways this never would have come to light unless a whistleblower said something in 2019. After the whistleblower did so, Jesus Christ moved his assets out of various shell companies into the parent company. The SEC is toothless. This is literally the equivalent of fining a penny on $100. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spawn_of_Apathy Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 34 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said: The SEC is toothless. This is literally the equivalent of fining a penny on $100. In this case I think it’s a penny on $320. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneticBlueprint Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 9 minutes ago, Spawn_of_Apathy said: In this case I think it’s a penny on $320. I actually missed a zero. I meant $100 thousand. Ensign Peak’s holdings are in the $100 billion range of which the $32 billion hidden is only a part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Pickle Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 What does god need with a starship? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Vic20 Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 Bam, got ‘em! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xbob42 Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 This would be an acceptable response only if everyone involved was publicly beheaded. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 All of that is for the protective booties they make you wear when you enter the Mormon temple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chairslinger Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 And that income is only a portion of money that makes up only one aspect of their dealings. And it's not that all the other stuff isn't dirty, it's just that this is the only stuff we know about because it's the only stuff they have to report because Christian's don't really have to obey the law anymore. But yeah, not to worry. If they are cheating with the financials that are actually reviewable I am sure the stuff that they know will never be scrutinized is on the up and up. So if you thought the fine itself was an insult just keep in mind it's even way worse than that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 9 hours ago, GeneticBlueprint said: “Jesus Christ fined $1 million…” Seems like a big fine for a carpenter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demut Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 Why are U.S. government institutions so toothless? I always hear about how the IRS is oh-so tough on tax evasion and yet this doesn't even qualify as a slap on the wrist. Is there some deeper reason, like how they wouldn't fuck with Scientology after those domestic terrorists started attacking the judicial system with a myriad bogus lawsuits and shit? When it comes to the States I basically never hear about the likes of the billion dollar fines that are regularly handed down in the EU. This can't all just be "rich people have more electoral influence". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kal-El814 Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 20 minutes ago, Demut said: Why are U.S. government institutions so toothless? I always hear about how the IRS is oh-so tough on tax evasion and yet this doesn't even qualify as a slap on the wrist. Is there some deeper reason, like how they wouldn't fuck with Scientology after those domestic terrorists started attacking the judicial system with a myriad bogus lawsuits and shit? When it comes to the States I basically never hear about the likes of the billion dollar fines that are regularly handed down in the EU. This can't all just be "rich people have more electoral influence". This hasn't been the case for like... 30 years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spawn_of_Apathy Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 They should have just taken away their tax exempt status. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 I don’t think this is a big deal and the fine is pretty well in line with what they did wrong. The underlying activity wasn’t an issue, it was just the way they reported their holdings obfuscated the fact that it was really one entity holding all of those investments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 1 hour ago, Kal-El814 said: This hasn't been the case for like... 30 years. Unless you claim the EITC and you’re black in the Deep South Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demut Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 2 hours ago, Kal-El814 said: This hasn't been the case for like... 30 years. Guess pop culture has yet to catch up to this new reality then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 Joe brandon also just got funding for 87,000 IRS agents to primarily go after the wealthy 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demut Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 I thought that initiative got cockblocked by the Republicans. Am I misremembering this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_m_b_m_b_m Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 Nope they’re trying to defund the tax police cause they’re all tax cheats but it became law. The new house passed a bill to undo that 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outsida Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 Remember the Bible verse were Jesus Christ advised to hide assets from Caesar??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LazyPiranha Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 I don’t see a Caesar around, do you? We’re dealing with people who invented fanfic about a fake gate in Jerusalem called the eye of a needle to get passed the whole “rich man entering the kingdom of heaven” bit. It doesn’t matter what the book says, they’ll find a way to make it fit a lifestyle they enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TUFKAK Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 43 minutes ago, outsida said: Remember the Bible verse were Jesus Christ advised to hide assets from Caesar??? You clearly don’t understand the gospel of republican Jesus. Render onto Caesar after you off shore and your options vest only! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 It isn't a tax issue, the reason the SEC is involved is because public disclosure of equity positions for large institutional investors is an important part of functioning markets. By distributing holdings across a bunch of subsidiaries, the scale of the fund's holdings in aggregate were not properly understood by the market, even though the existence of the holdings were all documented in the individual entities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneticBlueprint Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 There is a separate complaint filed with the IRS that does have to do with taxation issues, however. Involving the same entity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 10 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said: There is a separate complaint filed with the IRS that does have to do with taxation issues, however. Involving the same entity. To my knowledge, the complaint is not that the entity explicitly broke any tax laws in the way it operated, but that it shouldn’t be recognized as tax exempt in the first place because the intention of the sub-entity is not to distribute funds at a level deemed proper for a not-for-profit. The LDS Church takes advantage of quite squishy language on the part of the IRS in previous cases where they allowed such activity. But it’s been a while since I’ve read up on the situation, so I may not be remembering everything correctly or there might have been something newly revealed since the complaints first surfaced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneticBlueprint Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 39 minutes ago, sblfilms said: To my knowledge, the complaint is not that the entity explicitly broke any tax laws in the way it operated, but that it shouldn’t be recognized as tax exempt in the first place because the intention of the sub-entity is not to distribute funds at a level deemed proper for a not-for-profit. The LDS Church takes advantage of quite squishy language on the part of the IRS in previous cases where they allowed such activity. But it’s been a while since I’ve read up on the situation, so I may not be remembering everything correctly or there might have been something newly revealed since the complaints first surfaced. Yup you nailed it. In its 25 year existence its funds have only been used to bail out a for profit insurance company and build a luxury mall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 Just now, GeneticBlueprint said: Yup you nailed it. In its 25 year existence its funds have only been used to bail out a for profit insurance company and build a luxury mall. It seems like the IRS needs to tighten up its rules about what must be done with funds in such an entity, the implications would reach far beyond the LDS Church or religious institutions generally though, so I think they would end up with many otherwise unlikely allies challenging the change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitizenVectron Posted February 23, 2023 Author Share Posted February 23, 2023 Just make it so that no entities are tax-exempt. Bada bing, bada boom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demut Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 On 12/5/2020 at 1:00 PM, not CitizenVectron said: Just make it so that no one evades taxes. Bada bing, bada boom. Man, why haven't those stupid, corrupt politicians thought of that one yet ? Just get rid of all the loopholes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unogueen Posted February 24, 2023 Share Posted February 24, 2023 Govmnt doing a fire sale. That's a pretty paltry cut of business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneticBlueprint Posted February 24, 2023 Share Posted February 24, 2023 4 hours ago, sblfilms said: It seems like the IRS needs to tighten up its rules about what must be done with funds in such an entity, the implications would reach far beyond the LDS Church or religious institutions generally though, so I think they would end up with many otherwise unlikely allies challenging the change. Agreed. The person who worked there and reported them to the IRS seems to think there’s a pretty clear violation going on but I’m not a tax attorney. But at a minimum there are some ethical issues with it IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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