Whistleblower - Ensign Peak Advisors

[Sleeping in EQ]

Mormonism and its Money

This is a power struggle, not a moral or even fiscal conundrum, and one that we've seen before.

https://mormonstudies.as.virginia.ed...and-its-money/

Not persuasive.

[tooblue]

Mormonism and its Money

This is a power struggle, not a moral or even fiscal conundrum, and one that we've seen before.

https://mormonstudies.as.virginia.ed...and-its-money/

In sum, not only is there every attempt to remove money from the sanctuary, there is some serious redistribution of wealth going on in the Church of Jesus Christ. This is especially obvious in light of the Church’s principled effort to give all members equal access to the benefits of membership, regardless of their geographic location and economic circumstances.

That is, if the question were one of malfeasance, but it’s not. It’s about competing views of what should be done with Church money and who gets to say so. In other words, this is a power struggle, not a moral or even fiscal conundrum, and one that we’ve seen before from those who don’t understand Mormonism and how it handles its money.

[LVAllen]

https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019...p5vybPprmE78qQ

Looks like the SLT is running hard with this story.

Lars Nielsen said he and his twin brother wrote a 74-page synopsis of the IRS complaint.

Synopsis: noun, a brief summary or general survey of something.

Inigo2.jpg

[RC Vikings]

https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019...p5vybPprmE78qQ

Looks like the SLT is running hard with this story.

[Katy Lied]

So one twin is all about the hate, and the other twin is all about the money?

[LVAllen]

I'm confused by which twin did what. David is the one who worked at Ensign Peak and sent the letter to the IRS, but Lars is the one who leaked who the whistlblower was? Or did the both have access to the info? Why is Lars speaking on David's behalf. Im having a hard time following who is who, and what each brothers motivation is.

From Newsweek:

Religion Unplugged had a copy of the Form 211 filed with the IRS whistleblower office on Nov. 15, 2019 in Ogden, Utah, which named the whistleblower as David A. Nielsen, the twin brother of Lars Nielsen. ReligionUnplugged chose not to reveal the name of the whistleblower in its story on Monday. The Washington Post, meanwhile, did reveal David Nielsen's identity in its story the same day. And the whistleblower's identity was published in many places since then. Lars Nielsen also published his 74-page document on Scribd, which has been viewed more than 17,000 times, and published two YouTube videos, which have gained more than 20,000 views each.

. . .

Lars said he became disillusioned with the LDS Church and left it eight years ago.
David's LinkedIn profile shows that he worked at Ensign Peak Advisors Inc. in Salt Lake City between 2010 and 2019, where he was a senior portfolio manager. The Washington Post reported that David's job at EPA became complicated in recent months as his wife and children left the LDS Church. The whistleblower complaint noted that David had concerns about some practices at EPA since 2013 and voiced some of those concerns internally. David and Lars worked on a narrative about those issues at EPA in recent months. Lars said he wanted to make those allegations public, while David preferred to file the evidence to the IRS as a whistleblower complaint.

"I realized the ball on this had already started rolling," Lars said, noting that the complaint was submitted to the IRS office in Ogden, Utah, a place with many Mormon residents. "The chance of this being contained are so low... A story as big as this will get out."

Apparently, Mormons in the Ogden IRS office are so untrustworthy, he thought they would leak it? Or something?

[Art Vandelay]

Lmao. The whistleblower throws his twin brother under the bus and says the public dissemination wasn't authorized:

"No one has been authorized to speak for me, including my brother, Lars Nielsen. Any public disclosure of information that has been in my possession was unauthorized by me. Repeated attempts to dissuade my brother, Lars Nielsen, from making public disclosures have been ignored. I will have no further comment on this matter.”
— David A. Nielsen, to The Salt Lake Tribune late Friday, saying he did not authorize the dissemination of his complaint about Ensign Peak Advisors to the news media.

I'm confused by which twin did what. David is the one who worked at Ensign Peak and sent the letter to the IRS, but Lars is the one who leaked who the whistlblower was? Or did the both have access to the info? Why is Lars speaking on David's behalf. Im having a hard time following who is who, and what each brothers motivation is.

[UVACoug]

Lmao. The whistleblower throws his twin brother under the bus and says the public dissemination wasn't authorized:

"No one has been authorized to speak for me, including my brother, Lars Nielsen. Any public disclosure of information that has been in my possession was unauthorized by me. Repeated attempts to dissuade my brother, Lars Nielsen, from making public disclosures have been ignored. I will have no further comment on this matter.”
— David A. Nielsen, to The Salt Lake Tribune late Friday, saying he did not authorize the dissemination of his complaint about Ensign Peak Advisors to the news media.

Lol. That’s believable.

[LVAllen]

Lmao. The whistleblower throws his twin brother under the bus and says the public dissemination wasn't authorized:

"No one has been authorized to speak for me, including my brother, Lars Nielsen. Any public disclosure of information that has been in my possession was unauthorized by me. Repeated attempts to dissuade my brother, Lars Nielsen, from making public disclosures have been ignored. I will have no further comment on this matter.”
— David A. Nielsen, to The Salt Lake Tribune late Friday, saying he did not authorize the dissemination of his complaint about Ensign Peak Advisors to the news media.

[Topper]

Just got this in an email from the Church:

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist...hrist-finances

I found this part particularly interesting:



It includes a link to purchase Quinn's book on Amazon.

I don't know if this article was shared but it does a very good analysis from a tax perspective.
https://publicsquaremag.org/editoria...nHfhOWabcHMtC0

[UVACoug]

Just got this in an email from the Church:

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist...hrist-finances

I found this part particularly interesting:

D. Michael Quinn, a scholar who published a 600-page history of Church finances in 2017, summed up his findings as “an enormously faith-promoting story.” He told a newspaper reporter that if Latter-day Saints could see “the larger picture,” they would “breathe a sigh of relief and see the church is not a profit-making business.”

It includes a link to purchase Quinn's book on Amazon.

[Sullyute]

I feel better knowing that Jesus has the wheel, and it's to a Brinks truck.

That got a good laugh out of me.

[tooblue]

This is from the author of the essay:

Embedded Tweet

I was beguiled and I did partake.

Regardless, the minute you inform people there is money, they will ask for their share of the money.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Comment number three at the end of the article in the Tribune reads:

This is from the author of the essay:

Embedded Tweet

[tooblue]

You haven't seen posts on here asking "why am I still paying tithing?" or "why am I still being assigned to clean my building?"

Comment number three at the end of the article in the Tribune reads:

I’m guessing we all know people who faithfully “pay tithing first” and then budget their house bills.There is a good principle here of giving and co-op for the health of our neighbors and society.
I’m guessing we all know people who go without healthcare who faithfully pay tithing no matter what.
Is it possible for the Ensign business arm of the church to offer health care benefit to members who maintain their good standing with the church?