[shadowgovt]

That's not what the SEC alleged.

The SEC alleged that with the direction of the LDS leadership (i.e. "with the Church’s knowledge and approval"), Ensign Peak shell-companied the Church's funds.

Best-case scenario is that this was an attempt to hide information for the simple sake of hiding information (as nonprofits, churches are pretty heavily scrutinized relative to other institutions). Worse case, it was an attempt to hide the use of the money for political ends, which is a violation of the tax-exempt agreement of the church. And it's not a small amount of money.

This behavior is every bit as sus as any major non-profit with tens of billions of dollars under its control trying to intentionally dodge public scrutiny.

[OrvalWintermute]

While I support religious faiths in general, religious leaders shouldn't be in the game of hiding financial data from the civil authorities.