FLDS trust runs low on cash
 Church is unable to pay lawyers, financial overseer
 
By Ben Winslow
Deseret Morning News
 
The Fundamentalist LDS Church's financial empire is land rich — but cash poor.

The United Effort Plan Trust doesn't have enough money to pay its lawyers or the man appointed by the courts to oversee the $110 million financial arm of the polygamist church, Bruce Wisan.

"The truth is, the fiduciary didn't pay our last bill because he didn't have enough cash," attorney Jeffrey L. Shields told the Deseret Morning News on Monday.

Shields estimates his firm is owed about a half-million dollars for its work over the past six months. Wisan, the court-appointed special fiduciary of the UEP Trust, estimates he is owed about $100,000.

That doesn't mean the UEP is going bankrupt anytime soon. With the exception of Wisan and his attorneys, all of the bills have been paid.

"Right now, I'm able to cover three to four months of ongoing bills," Wisan said Monday. "I've talked to a bank about a possible bridge loan, but I'd like to not do that. One bank has already turned me down because it is such an unusual situation."

In 2005, a judge in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court took control of the UEP after allegations surfaced that FLDS leader Warren Jeffs and other church officials had been fleecing the trust. The UEP controls homes, businesses and property within the FLDS enclaves of Hildale, Utah; Colorado City, Ariz.; and Bountiful, B.C., Canada. Lawyers for the fiduciary have estimated the UEP controls about 95 percent of the land in the border towns of Hildale and Colorado City.

Wisan said he expects the UEP Trust to generate more income when he is able to sell property. He said he has actually managed to save money by stopping several valuable properties from being sold by FLDS leadership from underneath the people.

"We saved $5.5 million in assets. If it costs a million or $1.5 million to do it, it's still pretty good for all we've accomplished for the trust," Wisan said.

Shields said his firm has no plans to quit, either.

"We wish that the trust had cash, but we're not going to quit working because they don't," he said.

A hearing on paying the attorneys' fees and costs is scheduled for Jan. 22.

The UEP Trust did contribute $2,500 to help pay for the funeral of an ex-FLDS member killed in an accident in Iowa. His family — who are still within the FLDS Church — simply did not have any money to bury him.

The FLDS Church refused to pay any money because the man "was not considered to be a member of the church in good standing at the time of his death," Wisan said.

In a 2-inch-thick report submitted to the judge last week, the fiduciary updated the courts on efforts to administer the UEP, which was recently reformed.

Besides the financial situation, Wisan said in the report that FLDS members appear to be abandoning homes and school buildings. He sent a series of letters to Jeffs, who remains incarcerated in the Purgatory Jail, pleading for help paying property taxes. Jeffs has not replied.

"The fiduciary is prepared to take whatever reasonable steps are necessary to accomplish the payment of property taxes by those who occupy the property — including, if necessary, the eviction of those residents who refuse to pay property taxes," Wisan wrote to the judge.

The fiduciary complained that the police continue to be a source of frustration. In his report, Wisan said the Hildale Town Marshals never told him about a series of arson fires at a home there. Hildale has since condemned the property.

The Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training Council recently launched an investigation into the officers over allegations that they refuse to follow court orders and remain loyal to Jeffs.

Jeffs, 51, is awaiting an April trial on charges of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. The polygamist leader, who was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, is accused of forcing a 14-year-old girl into a marriage with her 19-year-old cousin.

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com
 
deseretnews.com
Originally published Tuesday, December 19, 2006
 
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