--- title: SEC Finds Mormon Church Hid $32 Billion in Assets description: Ensign Peak, which manages the equities portfolio for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, agreed to pay a $4 million penalty. canonical: https://time.com/6257161/sec-mormon-church-investigation/ author: Simmone Shah article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-02-21T18:10:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T15:28:29.017Z article:section: U.S. og:title: The Mormon Church Hid $32 Billion in Assets, Investigation Finds og:description: The church's portfolio manager created and filed forms under 13 shell companies. They've agreed to a $4 million penalty. og:url: https://time.com/6257161/sec-mormon-church-investigation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee58db131d45c3c3/698a3a87d07533506ce6dc6a/GettyImages-1240501479.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Washington D.C. Temple - Kensington, MD og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Mormon Church Hid $32 Billion in Assets, Investigation Finds twitter:description: The church's portfolio manager created and filed forms under 13 shell companies. They've agreed to a $4 million penalty. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee58db131d45c3c3/698a3a87d07533506ce6dc6a/GettyImages-1240501479.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Mormon Church Hid $32 Billion in Assets, According to a New Government Investigation ## Video: How Supreme Court Justices Responded to a Lawsuit That Could Upend the Internet [Watch (HLS stream): How Supreme Court Justices Responded to a Lawsuit That Could Upend the Internet](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YIevRQka.m3u8) (2:55)  _Published 2023-02-22. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments of a case that has the potential to transform the internet—whether tech companies can be held liable for the content on their platforms. But if the initial rounds of questioning were any indication, it does not seem likely that the court is ready to disrupt the status quo of Section 230, which shields platforms like YouTube and Facebook from lawsuits over the content they host. Judges on both sides of the ideological aisle expressed skepticism of the plaintiff’s arguments, and suggested several times that reform should be left to Congress. While the Supreme Court may yet upend Section 230 in the future, it seems unlikely Justices will do so through this case. That means the activists demanding the Big Tech reform will likely have to continue fighting an uphill battle._  by [Simmone Shah](/author/simmone-shah/)  ## Simmone Shah Reporter Feb 21, 2023 6:10 PM CUT  The Washington D.C. Temple, run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, has been closed for renovation. It will soon be open for public tours from April 28th through June 11th. The Washington D.C. Temple, run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, has been closed for renovation. It will soon be open for public tours from April 28th through June 11th.Matt McClain—The Washington Post/Getty Images  by [Simmone Shah](/author/simmone-shah/)  ## Simmone Shah Reporter Feb 21, 2023 6:10 PM CUT The federal Securities and Exchange Commission [has charged](https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-35 "undefined") Ensign Peak Advisors, which manages a $32 billion equities portfolio for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for obscuring the church’s investments and misstating Ensign Peak’s control over the investment decisions. Ensign Peak agreed to pay a $4 million penalty and the church agreed to pay a $1 million penalty. According to the SEC, Ensign Peak created and filed forms under 13 shell companies between 1997 and 2019 instead of filing them in the company’s name, all with the Church’s knowledge and approval. “To obscure the amount of the Church’s portfolio, and with the Church’s knowledge and approval, Ensign Peak created thirteen shell LLCs, ostensibly with locations throughout the U.S., and filed Forms 13F in the names of these LLCs rather than in Ensign Peak’s name,” the SEC said in its press release. Gurbir Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, said in the SEC’s statement: “We allege that the LDS Church’s investment manager, with the Church’s knowledge, went to great lengths to avoid disclosing the Church’s investments, depriving the Commission and the investing public of accurate market information.” --- ### More from TIME --- In 2019, David Nielsen—a member of the church and former Ensign Peak investment manager—filed a complaint with the SEC alleging that Ensign Peak had amassed $100 billion in accounts intended for charitable purposes, but that money had not directly funded any religious, educational or charitable activities in over 20 years, according to [The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/mormon-church-has-misled-members-on-100-billion-tax-exempt-investment-fund-whistleblower-alleges/2019/12/16/e3619bd2-2004-11ea-86f3-3b5019d451db%5Fstory.html "undefined"). Nielsen said that the money was intended to be used for the “second coming of Christ.” In a 74-page narrative that accompanied his complaint, he wrote: “Would you pay tithing instead of water, electricity, or feeding your family if you knew that it would sit around by the billions until the Second Coming of Christ?” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6257161/sec-mormon-church-investigation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6257161/sec-mormon-church-investigation/"},"headline":"The Mormon Church Hid $32 Billion in Assets, According to a New Government Investigation","datePublished":"2023-02-21T18:10:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T15:28:29.017Z","description":"Ensign Peak, which manages the equities portfolio for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, agreed to pay a $4 million penalty.","url":"https://time.com/6257161/sec-mormon-church-investigation/","keywords":["News Team"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee58db131d45c3c3/698a3a87d07533506ce6dc6a/GettyImages-1240501479.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Simmone Shah","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/simmone-shah/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltee58db131d45c3c3/698a3a87d07533506ce6dc6a/GettyImages-1240501479.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Washington D.C. Temple - Kensington, MD","caption":"Washington D.C. Temple - Kensington, MD","creditText":"Matt McClain—The Washington Post/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6257161/sec-mormon-church-investigation/","name":"The Mormon Church Hid $32 Billion in Assets, According to a New Government Investigation"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How Supreme Court Justices Responded to a Lawsuit That Could Upend the Internet","description":"On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments of a case that has the potential to transform the internet—whether tech companies can be held liable for the content on their platforms. But if the initial rounds of questioning were any indication, it does not seem likely that the court is ready to disrupt the status quo of Section 230, which shields platforms like YouTube and Facebook from lawsuits over the content they host. Judges on both sides of the ideological aisle expressed skepticism of the plaintiff’s arguments, and suggested several times that reform should be left to Congress. While the Supreme Court may yet upend Section 230 in the future, it seems unlikely Justices will do so through this case. That means the activists demanding the Big Tech reform will likely have to continue fighting an uphill battle.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/YIevRQka/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-02-22T18:06:56.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YIevRQka.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6257161/sec-mormon-church-investigation/","duration":"PT2M55S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6257161/sec-mormon-church-investigation/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```