Ensign Peak tax fraud an uncontested slam dunk?

[Dr Moore]

Apparently, evidence of church entities engaging in tax fraud is the Lord Voldemort of subjects for apologists. Our own consiglieri posted this link on June 8 and RFM covered the details in multiple podcast episodes with an expert co-host. Two weeks later, zero apologists, zero BYU scholars, and zero of the online smarty-pants member-defenders have attempted to debunk these weighty allegations of tax fraud at Ensign Peak. All I can say is, "wow." Has a slam dunk been delivered? Is everyone on the losing team gazing at their sweaty navels, hoping no one saw the action?

I have a fairly tight circle of friends in secure places at BYU. All of them are disturbed about this new revelation, but afraid to ask for answers. I'm told there is an unwritten "rule" that BYU professors are not allowed to inquire up the chain about anything to do with Ensign Peak. That's odd, for a host of reasons, not least of which is that Ensign Peak is one of the largest captive asset managers in the world. Wouldn't the church want BYU's Marriott School to write case studies about investment discipline and shrewd portfolio management? Evidently, the "light" up at Ensign Peak isn't something they're proud of and must be assiduously hidden under a bushel. Imagine Jesus smiling down with pride.

Well, speaking of BYU, this week I heard through the grapevine that Aaron Miller is utterly shell shocked by the discovery. Those paying attention will recall that Aaron teaches ethics at BYU (oh, the irony!) and has defended the church's SEC violations at FAIR and on a few faithful podcasts, largely by asserting with confidence that Ensign Peak's 20 year practice of carefully orchestrated criminal perjury wasn't a big deal because, according to his authoritative perspective, there was *no* tax fraud or any monetary malfeasance. Looks like Professor Ethics forgot to study the material before taking his final exam. Course grade: F.

Remember back in 2018 when sleuths at MormonLeaks discovered Ensign Peak's secret $32 billion in stock market investments? It's 2025 now, and we're still hearing about ways in which Ensign Peak cherry picked which laws it would abide and which laws it would ignore. How much worse is the full measure of ground truth over there?

I do believe there will be business school case studies written about Ensign Peak someday. Not about portfolio management, but ethics. If there is one lesson to be learned from the story of Ensign Peak, it's that complex incentives, when combined with poorly-designed internal controls, often lead people in power to do bad things when they are "certain" no one will ever know. Ensign Peak would make for an excellent first-year ethics case at HBS.

In closing, a quote from Jesus:

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Matthew 16:26
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... 6?lang=eng

[Marcus]

I followed your link to Aaron Miller, and read he is co-author of a book called The Business Ethics Field Guide. Their site lists 13 dilemmas covered in the book and "questions you should be asking." A few stood out:

The 13 Dilemmas

1. Standing Up to Power. Your boss or someone else in authority is asking you to do something unethical. Ask yourself: Can I get this done in some other way, without being unethical? How can I help my boss save face?
---
3. Intervention. You see something that’s wrong but face risks if you try to stop it. Ask yourself: Are you the right person to intervene or should you recruit help? Can you intervene in a way that creates the least harm to everyone involved?
---
7. Skirting the Rules. To accomplish a worthy purpose, you have to go around the rules or break the law. Ask yourself: Would those with authority over the rules/law want you to break them in this case? What are all the reasons the rule or law matters?
---
9. Loyalty. Showing loyalty to someone comes at a cost to yourself or others. Ask yourself: Have they shown loyalty to me? Does demanding your loyalty allow them to take advantage of you?
---

https://meritleadership.com/business-et ... eld-guide/

Number 9 is brutal.

[Dr Moore]

I followed your link to Aaron Miller, and read he is co-author of a book called The Business Ethics Field Guide. Their site lists 13 dilemmas covered in the book and "questions you should be asking." A few stood out:

The 13 Dilemmas

1. Standing Up to Power. Your boss or someone else in authority is asking you to do something unethical. Ask yourself: Can I get this done in some other way, without being unethical? How can I help my boss save face?
---
3. Intervention. You see something that’s wrong but face risks if you try to stop it. Ask yourself: Are you the right person to intervene or should you recruit help? Can you intervene in a way that creates the least harm to everyone involved?
---
7. Skirting the Rules. To accomplish a worthy purpose, you have to go around the rules or break the law. Ask yourself: Would those with authority over the rules/law want you to break them in this case? What are all the reasons the rule or law matters?
---
9. Loyalty. Showing loyalty to someone comes at a cost to yourself or others. Ask yourself: Have they shown loyalty to me? Does demanding your loyalty allow them to take advantage of you?
---

https://meritleadership.com/business-et ... eld-guide/

Number 9 is brutal.

Mic drop.

[drumdude]

I followed your link to Aaron Miller, and read he is co-author of a book called The Business Ethics Field Guide. Their site lists 13 dilemmas covered in the book and "questions you should be asking." A few stood out:

The 13 Dilemmas

1. Standing Up to Power. Your boss or someone else in authority is asking you to do something unethical. Ask yourself: Can I get this done in some other way, without being unethical? How can I help my boss save face?
---
3. Intervention. You see something that’s wrong but face risks if you try to stop it. Ask yourself: Are you the right person to intervene or should you recruit help? Can you intervene in a way that creates the least harm to everyone involved?
---
7. Skirting the Rules. To accomplish a worthy purpose, you have to go around the rules or break the law. Ask yourself: Would those with authority over the rules/law want you to break them in this case? What are all the reasons the rule or law matters?
---
9. Loyalty. Showing loyalty to someone comes at a cost to yourself or others. Ask yourself: Have they shown loyalty to me? Does demanding your loyalty allow them to take advantage of you?
---

https://meritleadership.com/business-et ... eld-guide/

Number 9 is brutal.

It seems like they’ve lost most of the members who would be troubled by this, unfortunately.

[I Have Questions]

Not even MG would be okay with the Church committing tax fraud. So he’ll deny that the Church has committed tax fraud. He may simply ignore the topic, like all the apologists seem to be doing.

It will be interesting to see if the Church can quietly and quickly settle its way out of this one.

[malkie]

I followed your link to Aaron Miller, and read he is co-author of a book called The Business Ethics Field Guide. Their site lists 13 dilemmas covered in the book and "questions you should be asking." A few stood out:

The 13 Dilemmas

1. Standing Up to Power. Your boss or someone else in authority is asking you to do something unethical. Ask yourself: Can I get this done in some other way, without being unethical? How can I help my boss save face?
---
3. Intervention. You see something that’s wrong but face risks if you try to stop it. Ask yourself: Are you the right person to intervene or should you recruit help? Can you intervene in a way that creates the least harm to everyone involved?
---
7. Skirting the Rules. To accomplish a worthy purpose, you have to go around the rules or break the law. Ask yourself: Would those with authority over the rules/law want you to break them in this case? What are all the reasons the rule or law matters?
---
9. Loyalty. Showing loyalty to someone comes at a cost to yourself or others. Ask yourself: Have they shown loyalty to me? Does demanding your loyalty allow them to take advantage of you?
---

https://meritleadership.com/business-et ... eld-guide/

Number 9 is brutal.

Yes - loyalty as described here is transactional, and apparently disconnected from what some (including me) would call a good ethical position. Mutual backscratching may as easily be a feature of an evil association as a virtuous one.

[Rivendale]

The restored gospel of Jesus Christ has a lot of moving parts. What looks like fraud in one snapshot of time appears as a glorious tapestry of wisdom when viewed from an eternal perspective. Parking ticket. Paperwork snafu. Pushback against overreach. These are the elements that are used to sooth the apparent contradiction in the moral conundrum raised as accusations arise. For some members there are no boundaries for the church and merely treat it as dogs barking at the caravan.

[Dr Moore]

The restored gospel of Jesus Christ has a lot of moving parts. What looks like fraud in one snapshot of time appears as a glorious tapestry of wisdom when viewed from an eternal perspective. Parking ticket. Paperwork snafu. Pushback against overreach. These are the elements that are used to sooth the apparent contradiction in the moral conundrum raised as accusations arise. For some members there are no boundaries for the church and merely treat it as dogs barking at the caravan.

Sadly this is the truth for too many, and is a sure sign of cultish corruption.

[Mag’ladroth]

Mormon apologists excuse Joseph Smith’s blatant plagiarism in the JST. Why wouldn’t they excuse tax fraud?

[Philo Sofee]

Mormon apologists excuse Joseph Smith’s blatant plagiarism in the JST. Why wouldn’t they excuse tax fraud?

They appear to excuse anything illegal or at least make sure the sacred holy brethren are never at fault, it defers to some poor hapless Stake President or Bishop elsewhere.