Mormon church is sued by three members seeking class action status, claiming hundreds of thousands in tithes were used to pad its $175 billion investment fund

The Mormon religion is being sued by 3 men who declare that it took $348,000 successful donations they believed were for charitable causes, past utilized nan money for its ain investments.

The trio, who revenge a national suit connected Tuesday, are seeking to make their lawsuit a class-action suit, and want an independent entity to oversee postulation and usage of donations made to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Their suit is abstracted from, but akin to, 1 revenge by James Huntsman, nan scion of a salient Mormon family whose relative Jon was nan politician of Utah and a statesmanlike candidate, and U.S. ambassador to Russia, China and Singapore.

James Huntsman successful August told DailyMail.com that nan institution is 'in dire straits' arsenic followers statesman questioning nan integrity of its leadership.

The 3 men down Tuesday's suit - Daniel Chappell, of Virginia, and Masen Christensen and John Oaks, some of Utah - are challenging nan spending by nan religion of tithes, nan 10 percent aid that each members are required to make.

Chappell said that, since January 1, 2013, he has donated $108,000.

Christensen, who successful nan tribunal documents states he remains a personnel of nan Church, and will proceed paying tithes provided nan building is changed, says he donated $120,000 positive $46,000 though 'donor-advised funds' - a taxation businesslike measurement of giving.

Oaks says he has fixed $74,000.

The religion does not make its finances public, but a group calling itself The Widow's Mite estimated that nan religion had a luck of $236 cardinal successful 2022, pinch $175 cardinal of that successful cash.

The Widow's Mite reports are produced by 'current and erstwhile religion members whose master and acquisition backgrounds see business, finance, law, finance management, economics, publicity and history,' and created done an study of 'publicly disposable sources.'

The trio opportunity that nan tithe is meant for kindness work, but reason successful tribunal documents it is 'permanently invested successful accounts it ne'er uses for immoderate charitable work'.

They declare that nan religion 'went to utmost lengths to conceal from nan nationalist and its members nan existent disposition of donations.'

Their case, and that of Huntsman, was sparked by a 2019 whistleblower, who claimed that nan religion 'funneled billions of dollars of donations into covert imperishable investments done Ensign' - nan affiliated finance head for nan Church.

Ensign Peak, seen arsenic a 'rainy time fund', has spent money only doubly successful its 26-year history, according to some lawsuits.

In 2009, Ensign Peak spent $600 cardinal to bail retired Beneficial Life, a failing church-owned, for-profit security company.

From 2010 to 2014, it put $1.4 cardinal toward building nan City Creek Center promenade adjacent Temple Square successful downtown Salt Lake City.

In February, nan U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fined nan religion and Ensign Peak Advisors a full of $5 million for utilizing ammunition companies to obscure nan size of nan finance portfolio nether religion control.

The religion agreed to salary $1 cardinal and Ensign Peak $4 million.

The whistleblower, David Nielsen, a erstwhile Ensign Peak finance manager, submitted this twelvemonth a 90-page memorandum to nan U.S. Senate Finance Committee demanding a legislature investigation into nan church's finances.

DailyMail.com has approached nan religion for remark but is yet to perceive back.