A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit alleging that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints arm misused hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations by investing it instead of using it for charitable purposes.
U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby said a three-year statute of limitations on fraud claims in Utah passed before the lawsuit was filed in October 2023. The judge also said the plaintiffs failed to adequately show how any fraud had occurred.
The legal action from a group of donors to the church brought renewed scrutiny over how the faith known widely as the Mormon church handles its vast financial holdings. Those holdings are bolstered by so-called “tithing” from church members who contribute 10% of their income.
The lawsuit was directed at business and investment entities under the church, which doesn’t publicly disclose details about its finances. Attorneys for the plaintiffs wanted an independent entity to oversee donated funds. They also sought class-action certification that could have brought millions of church members into the case.
Church spokesperson Sam Penrod said tithing donations are an “expression of faith” that allow it to fulfill its mission.
“These donations are carefully used and wisely managed, under the direction of senior Church leader,” Penrod said in an emailed statement. “The legal claims brought against the Church were rightfully dismissed by the court.”
Plaintiffs' attorney Christopher Seeger said the dismissal would make it harder for church members to understand how donations are used.
“For decades members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have contributed 10% of their hard-earned income as tithes, and they have the right to know how these donations are being used,” Seeger said.
A similar lawsuit was filed in federal court in California in 2021 by James Huntsman, brother of former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr., who was seeking the return of $5 million he donated before he left the church. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in January upheld a lower court ruling that sided with the church.
At issue in the lawsuits was whether the church’s investments in stocks, bonds, real estate and agriculture reflect the wishes of its donors.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fined the church and subsidiary Ensign Peak Advisers $5 million in February 2023 for using shell companies to obscure the size of the investment portfolio under church control. The church agreed to pay $1 million and Ensign Peak will pay $4 million.
The church has previously defended how it handles member contributions, calling the fraud claims baseless and saying contributions go to a variety of religious purposes including missionary work, education, humanitarian causes and construction of churches, temples and other buildings important to church work.
The church's corporate arm, the Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solicits donations for humanitarian relief with promises that all donations are used to help those in need.
But the Utah lawsuit argued that the church hid information that some, if not all, donations are permanently invested in accounts never used for charitable work. That includes tithes — regular donations amounting to 10% of a person’s income that are expected from church members. The money instead has gone to Ensign Peak Advisors, a nonprofit created in 1997 that has grown to over $100 billion in value, the lawsuit alleged.
Like the lawsuit filed by Huntsman, the case leaned on allegations by whistleblower David Nielsen, a former Ensign Peak investment manager who submitted a 90-page memorandum to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee demanding oversight into the church’s finances.
Details on his allegations were publicized by The Associated Press and other media organizations in late 2019 and early 2020, according to Thursday's ruling. Shelby said the plaintiffs in the Utah case should have been aware of the fraud allegations by early 2020, yet did not file their case for more than three years — too late for the statute of limitations.
Ensign Peak has spent funds only twice in its 26-year history, according to both lawsuits. In 2009, it spent $600 million to bail out a failing church-owned, for-profit life insurance company. Beginning in 2010 it put $1.4 billion to build a mall near Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City.
FILE - The sun sets behind the Mormon Temple, the centerpiece of Temple Square in Salt Lake City, April 27, 2006. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
