View Full Version : Flds - Follow The Money
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:04 PM
Where do the funds come from that fund the approximately 10,000 FLDS members?
Federal Contracts, Construction contracts within the state of Nevada, Utah, Arizona, investments, tithing
and....your tax dollars.
THE FLDS EMPIRE "The then-prophet, Leroy "Uncle Roy" Johnson, reigned over an empire that now
includes interests in construction, real estate, hotels and restaurants, banking, and Bolivian Tin
mines."
"WELFARE AS CREATIVE BUDGETING"
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/f/f39ad.html
Jon Krakauer, author wrote in his book "Under the Banner of Heaven" that fundamentalist leaders in Colorado
City view the whole process as "creative budgeting." He says that they regard it as a "virtuous act."
Flora Jessop: ""They are told to go on welfare. It's called 'bleeding the beast' and they find it amusing that
Satan is supporting God's work."
I understand — from a post somewhere — FLDS made contributions to some politicians which would have quelled some serious questioning, IMO. is this so?
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:07 PM
US Welfare & Benefits - Utah & AZ
1. Food stamps
2. Housing assistance
3. Medical assistance
4. Eyeglasses
5. Dental assistance
6. Fuel assistance
7. babysitting assistance
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/33519.html
Being responsible for the temporal needs of the members of the UEP, Bishop Fred Jessop encouraged anyone who was
eligible to take advantage of government assistance in the form of welfare and the WIC (woman-infant-child) programs.
Reportedly in 2003, "thirty-three percent of the town's residents receive food stamps compared to the state
average of 4.7 percent" resulting in more than $6 million a year in public funds being funneled into the community
of Colorado City, Arizona.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/p...olygamy103.html
"This subsidy is destined to rapidly expand. With each passing year, as the FLDS population grows, the cost to state
taxpayers rises. In addition to the $6 million going to FLDS-controlled governments, Arizona is footing the bill for
health care in Colorado City. Nearly everyone in the area receives state-managed health-care benefits, costing
taxpayers another $8 million annually."
"Taxpayers are also feeding the huge families resulting from polygamous marriages. More than half the population on the
Arizona side of the area receives food stamps, worth more than $2 million a year. Another $500,000 a year goes
to help pay for child care.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:09 PM
Question: Laurie, are the residents of Colorado City actually exempt somehow from state rules for public education?
Laurie Allen: They are, and the state exempts them from just about everything. They don't enforce the
law in that town. For example, in Phoenix, if a woman goes on welfare, she has to name the father of her child,
and there are many other things she has to do. In Colorado City, they don't have to - they just give them the money.
In Salt Lake City, if a mother is on welfare, she has to have her kids in school, getting a proper education.
That's not the case in Colorado City - they just give them the money. We know that approximately $30 million in
taxpayer money goes to support the FLDS alone. And most of the men have jobs in that town, and they don't report
the income. They call it "bleeding the beast" - take all the money from the taxpayers and give it to the prophet.
That's what they're taught. And it was the same in the LeBaron sect - they didn't have welfare in Mexico, but many
would be stateside and sending the money to Mexico.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:10 PM
http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy5.html
Note: The source for this article was "Polygamy on the Dole: Welfare aids the illegal lifestyle of many families in Utah-Arizona
border community" Salt Lake Tribune/June 28, 1998, By Tom Zoellner
Welfare is often how polygamist communities like Hildale in Utah and Colorado City in Arizona substantially support themselves.
Polygamists often use food stamps to feed their families. Former polygamist Benjamin Bisline said, "If it wasn't for government
subsidies, these people couldn't survive. There are people here with 15 wives on welfare.
Colorado City and Hildale were on a list of the top ten towns with a population over 2,000 in the Intermountain West for
reliance upon Medicaid (health care for the poor) in 1998. And in that same year the same towns draw from the Women,
Infants and Children (WIC) program (food for low-income mothers) could only be equaled by Western Indian reservations
and impoverished inner cities. 33% of Hildale and Colorado City residents were using food stamps in 1998. To put this
into perspective, respectively Arizona's average was 6.7% and Utah's 4.7% during that same period.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:12 PM
http://www.rickross.com/reference/po...polygamy5.html
Less Hildale households receive food stamps than many Utah towns. However, more aid comes to Hildale as a community because
of the number of children that live in each household. During one month in 1997 35 households received a total of $22,375 for
393 people, while another Utah town Parowan, got half that amount for 165 residents. The largest household in Parowan was seven members, while Hildale recorded a household of 37 people receiving food stamps.
According to federal paperwork, Colorado City is filled largely with unwed mothers without any visible spousal support.
Polygamous women are treated as single mothers. "In terms of food-stamp eligibility, she's not in a recognized marriage situation,
and she'd be considered a single mom with kids,'' said Mason Bishop, spokesman for the Utah Department of Workforce Services.
According to Arizona records the Cooperative Mercantile Exchange, the one grocery store in Colorado City, collected $26,466
from the WIC food program in December 1997. Hildale has its own WIC office rented to the government for $400 a month in
1998. In an affidavit Hildale's town attorney stated, "There is a large amount of foot traffic in and out of [the WIC] office.''
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:13 PM
http://www.rickross.com/reference/po...polygamy5.html
Hildale received $405,006 from federal housing grants to remodel 19 homes on FLDS land.
Trailers are parked next to mansions. Half the place seems to be under construction. This is because the FLDS dislikes mortgages.
Nobody can get financing for a house, so homes are built when money is available.
Public money was used to remodel 19 homes according to Utah state records. People who received this money were
picked by Hildale city officials. FLDS leader Fred Jessop approved each one according to court records.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:14 PM
http://www.beyondborders.org/Publications/BB%20newsletter%20Winter%2005%20Final.pdf
MONEY: WELFARE
Since the celestial wives of Bountiful are not legally married by the government, they all register as single mothers and
receive the child tax credit. Moreover, American girls shipped to Canada apply to immigrate here based on Section 25(1)
of the Immigration and Refugee Act which allows females who give birth here to become permanent residents.
Then they are eligible for health care, daycare subsidies, welfare, Canada Pension, Old Age pension, Canada child tax
benefit and the BC family bonus.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:15 PM
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/f/f39ad.html
Multiple wives, who were married in church, but not in the eyes of the law, began applying for state assistance. Food Stamps
and Federal programs like WIC, which provide nutritional assistance to low-income women and children, were also tapped.
So were healthcare dollars through Arizona's AHCCCS program, which provides most of the medical insurance for
residents in Colorado City AZ. Last year over 4,000 residents were enrolled, reportedly costing the state about $8 million
a year.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:18 PM
Mayor Barlow
He conceded though that welfare payments made polygamist life better for FLDS families. But he felt those receiving benefits
from the WIC program are actually doing "the thing that Americans do." Barlow claimed the community could get along without welfare if it had to. "We would survive, but we wouldn't survive at the level we are now. Like the rest of America, if it weren't
for the aid of the government, many people would be at a lower lifestyle," he said. Unemployment though is almost zero in both Hildale and Colorado City, according to U.S. Census records. So why do 33% need food stamps? Barlow said this is because they "don't have high-paying jobs.''
MOLLY SAYS:Not everyone else in America is collecting benefits, and a huge majority don't have high paying jobs.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:21 PM
Yearning for Zion Ranch
http://rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy481.html
San Angelo Standard, Texas/June 24, 2006 By Matt Phinney
"The group has faithfully paid its property taxes since buying the land, and this year's note should be the biggest yet.
The massive building was appraised for the first time this year and stands at a preliminary value of about $8 million.
The entire YFZ Ranch north of Eldorado, where the building is located, has an assessed value of nearly
$18 million, according to preliminary numbers by Schleicher County Appraiser Scott Sutton.
If the numbers at the YFZ ranch stand, the group's tax bill would be about $450,000. The sect paid about $200,000 last
year. All entities in Schleicher County offer an incentive for taxpayers to pay early. They get a 3-percent discount if the
bill is paid in October, 2 percent in November and 1 percent in December. The YFZ Ranch paid its taxes in October last
year, and in December in 2004 when it purchased the land, Sutton said.
According to the state tax code, property owned by religious organizations may qualify for a property-tax exemption
if the organization files for an exemption and shows it qualifies for the discount. Eligible property includes places of
worship and residences of clergy, according to the code.
Sutton said the group has never filed for an exemption.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:27 PM
http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy5.html
Colorado City had one radio station in 1998, KCAA. A program "In the Spotlight,'' is hosted by Tom Barlow. He often criticizes
the federal government. On one show he blasted the "welfare state" and national debt. But Barlow, a trucker, admits
to taking welfare to support his family and sees no contradiction.
"This society we're in has got us in a trap,'' he said. He claims, "The dependence we have on such things as hydroelectric
power and fossil fuels has got people in a situation where it's about impossible to raise families without government help.
We're in a trap because we have to obey a lot of stupid laws from the state of Utah and federal government.''
The radio station itself actually sits on FLDS land and received $445,00 from the "Colorado City Improvement Association"
(president and trustee is FLDS Presiding Bishop Jessop) to build and operate.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:31 PM
I understand — from a post somewhere — FLDS made contributions to some politicians which would have quelled some serious questioning, IMO. is this so?
Floh, the 10,000 members vote as their prophet or leaders want them to. It's been rumored that they've voted for Orrin Hatch,
who has claimed to have friends in Hilldale and has not seen any abuse.. If I can find that article again I will post it.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:37 PM
http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy5.html
Another town controlled essentially by one religion was denied services and public money.
This was the Oregon City of Rajneeshpuram, run by cult leader Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, a "guru" from India.
A federal judge ruled in 1984 that allowing the community to incorporate would amount to promotion
of a specific religion. However, Hildale was chartered before that ruling.
Yet in 1985, a year after the Rajneeshpuram decision in federal court, Arizona allowed Colorado City to
incorporate anyway, which made the town eligible to receive state and federal grants.
Since then it has received over $1.8 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to pave
streets, upgrade fire equipment and build a water-storage tank. Hildale got $94,000 for its fire station. And the
government-financed airport on the edge of Colorado City cost $2.8 million.
MOLLY says: That's the one many in the FLDS considered as Jeff's private airport.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:40 PM
http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy5.html
Jeffs, who succeeded Leroy Johnson in 1986 is credited with the financial acumen that brought the FLDS into a new,
modern era. Janet Johansen said, "He knew of all the breaks available and how to get around regulations and all the
loopholes. Rulon Jeffs is the one who moved the group in that direction. He's the money man.''
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:44 PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5716417.html
Holm, 55, a Utah businessman who left the sect years ago after contributing more than $5 million in cash and property.
"The Texas compound is supposedly for some of the elite that were culled out of the common folks and riffraff who were
left here to work and send money to the elite over there." "A while back, even two or three years ago, they were asking $500
to $1,000 a month from each family. And they had scores of men go down there and do the building. They worked for nothing,"
Jeffs raised additional millions by selling properties owned by the church's community trust, called the United Effort Plan,
and by persuading sect businessmen to kick in large sums."We're talking about tens of millions. And you've got to remember
the Texas compound isn't the only one he has," Bistline said. "There's one in South Dakota, a small one in Colorado and others in Canada."
There are people in the organization who are very skilled at producing money. There was one business, Western Precision,
that did things for the military. That was bringing in millions," he said. "That's where the money came for Texas.
They're not making any out there."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:47 PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5716417.html
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has reported that John Nielsen, a former employee of Western Precision, which is now called
NewEra Manufacturing, claimed as part of a civil lawsuit that sect members were made to work for little or no wages and
that up to $100,000 in monthly profits were donated to Jeffs or the church.
"Significant assets were sold by the FLDS church just prior to the land in Texas being purchased, including a property in
Utah called the Steed Ranch, which sold for a little over $8 million, and a couple of other parcels in Apple Valley, (Utah),"
Hoole said. "That money didn't stay in Short Creek. It's probably a very safe assumption that it went to Texas."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:49 PM
http://www.childbrides.org/taxes_KSL_bank_loses_money.html
The Bank of Ephraim made high-risk business and consumer loans in the polygamist community on the Arizona border
and lost more than three quarters of a million dollars last year.
Bank of Ephraim Chairman Carl Barton described its lending relationship with residents of the twin polygamist communities
of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, as "very unique."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:51 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/17/polygamy.pentagon/index.html
The U.S. government paid more than $1.7 million in defense contracts over the last decade to companies owned by leaders
of Warren Jeffs' polygamous sect, with tens of thousands allegedly winding its way back to Jeffs and his church.
CNN has learned that between 1998 and 2007, the United States Air Force and Defense Logistics Agency purchased more than
$1.7 million worth of airplane parts from three companies owned by members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, which practices polygamy.
Those companies are Utah Tool and Die, Western Precision and NewEra Manufacturing. Today, the companies all operate under
the name NewEra Manufacturing, a company based in Las Vegas, Nevada, that says it supplies precision components
"for the aerospace, military, medical, recreational and other commercial entities."
"It was my understanding that Western Precision was paying roughly $50,000 a week into the coffers of the church,"
former sect member Richard Holm said. "It would have been close to $200,000 a month." Holm said he helped build
Western Precision.
Yearning for Zion Ranch
http://rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy481.html
San Angelo Standard, Texas/June 24, 2006 By Matt Phinney
"The group has faithfully paid its property taxes since buying the land, and this year's note should be the biggest yet.
The massive building was appraised for the first time this year and stands at a preliminary value of about $8 million. The entire YFZ Ranch north of Eldorado, where the building is located, has an assessed value of nearly $18 million, according to preliminary numbers by Schleicher County Appraiser Scott Sutton.
If the numbers at the YFZ ranch stand, the group's tax bill would be about
$450,000. The sect paid about $200,000 last year. All entities in Schleicher County offer an incentive for taxpayers to pay early. They get a 3-percent discount if the bill is paid in October, 2 percent in November and 1 percent in December. The YFZ Ranch paid its taxes in October last year, and in December in 2004 when it purchased the land, Sutton said.
According to the state tax code, property owned by religious organizations may qualify for a property-tax exemption if the organization files for an exemption and shows it qualifies for the discount. Eligible property includes places of worship and residences of clergy, according to the code.
Sutton said the group has never filed for an exemption.
Of course not because they would have been required to turn over their secret paperwork, wouldn't they?
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:53 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/17/pol...gon/index.html
A court affidavit signed by a man whose father was the president of Western Precision makes similar allegations.
During 2003, the amount being sent to the storehouse and the FLDS was around $100,000 per month,"
John Nielsen said in the October 26, 2005, affidavit. "I have personal knowledge that checks sent to the FLDS
Church/Warren Jeffs by [Western Precision] are payable to the FLDS Church and/or Warren Jeffs."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:54 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/17/pol...gon/index.html
Private investigator Sam Brower, who monitors the sect, said money earned through business dealings
with the U.S. government was used to build Jeffs' compounds across the country, including the one
recentlyraided in Eldorado, Texas. Brower says dozens of companies tied to FLDS are working on
contracts with federal or local governments. The Pentagon would confirm only it had contracts with three.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 04:56 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/17/pol...gon/index.html
The companies have not been charged with wrongdoing. Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell emphasized
that point."The Department of Defense awards contracts on the basis of who can most effectively meet
our requirements for supplies or services at the most reasonable cost to the taxpayer," he said.
"We do not consider religious affiliation or marital status when selecting vendors, but illegal activity is
certainly cause for termination of a contract and perhaps even debarment, which could prevent a
contractor from doing business with department ever again."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 05:12 PM
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A313592
From government construction sites like one at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve to one at the Clark County Wetlands Park,
a river is running. But it's not water that flows from these places. It's money, taxpayers' money.
And a whole lot of it is going to JNJ Engineering. The company has nearly $10.5 million in government contracts
with the City, County and Water District. Spokesperson J.C. Davis says $9.6 million of that is with the Water District
alone. "They keep getting contracts because they keep bidding on contracts."
JNJ Engineering's Jacob Jessop and his family live in a million-dollar home on Gilbert Lane in northwest Las Vegas
and another one in Hildale, Utah.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 05:35 PM
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A313592
Nevada law requires government to award its contracts to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.
JNJ often undercuts the next lowest bidder by tens or hundreds of thousands, and their bids are also often hundreds of
thousands less than the government engineer's own estimate.
Flora Jessop says there's a reason for that. "A lot of what happens in these corporations is they use their children as the
labor force and so they don't have to pay wages. And each one of those boys, while collecting a paycheck, never see
that paycheck. That money is sent directly to the prophet." "I used to work for construction companies, too, and we'd
get paid one check, and then we'd turn another check over to them after we'd sign it back over to them," said Isaac.
"So, their records showed like it should be even though that's not how it was."
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/17/polygamy.pentagon/index.html
The U.S. government paid more than $1.7 million in defense contracts over the last decade to companies owned by leaders
of Warren Jeffs' polygamous sect, with tens of thousands allegedly winding its way back to Jeffs and his church.
CNN has learned that between 1998 and 2007, the United States Air Force and Defense Logistics Agency purchased more than
$1.7 million worth of airplane parts from three companies owned by members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, which practices polygamy.
Those companies are Utah Tool and Die, Western Precision and NewEra Manufacturing. Today, the companies all operate under
the name NewEra Manufacturing, a company based in Las Vegas, Nevada, that says it supplies precision components
"for the aerospace, military, medical, recreational and other commercial entities."
"It was my understanding that Western Precision was paying roughly $50,000 a week into the coffers of the church,"
former sect member Richard Holm said. "It would have been close to $200,000 a month." Holm said he helped build
Western Precision.
Well, now. from what we've so far learned it's almost certain children were a part of production of goods for the nation and this is surely wrong.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 05:39 PM
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A313592
Neither the Water District, nor the County, nor the City, have any mechanism in place to check on contract compliance.
They don't require employee lists, dates of birth, or social security numbers, so they don't know whether proper wages
are being paid, and they don't know how old the workers are. The only way that would be checked out is if someone
complained to the Labor Department.
That's something Flora Jessop says will likely never happen because of the oppressive culture that FLDS members grow up in.
"Every one of the people working for JNJ Engineering were born into this group. They own them."
Paragon Contractors Corporation, another Hildale, Utah FLDS construction company, was fined more than $10,000 by
the U.S. Department of Labor for employing minors aged 12, 13 and 15, and failing to pay them for their work.
Floh, the 10,000 members vote as their prophet or leaders want them to. It's been rumored that they've voted for Orrin Hatch,
who has claimed to have friends in Hilldale and has not seen any abuse.. If I can find that article again I will post it.
Looking forward to it. i remember way back when making a post about Orrin's comments, but b*gg*red if i can find it now! :crazy:
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 05:41 PM
Well, now. from what we've so far learned it's almost certain children were a part of production of goods for the nation and this is surely wrong.I think I remember reading where one of the young girls who was being difficult was sent to work in this company or one other, but the boys were definitely used in the construction and other heavy industries.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 05:44 PM
http://www.eldoradosuccess.com/YFZ%20Pages/YFZ022405a.html
While the Utah legal action won’t immediately affect Jeffs’ far-flung holdings in Colorado and Texas, the implication is clear.
If new trustees are appointed to head the UEP Trust, efforts will soon follow to prove that UEP assets were diverted to
purchase property near Mancos, CO and here in Schleicher County where Jeffs’ followers are busy constructing a new
community, complete with a massive temple, on the YFZ Ranch.
In order to get such proof, a financial forensic specialist would be needed and sources close to the attorneys in this case
tell the Success that it is likely that Judge Roth will be encouraged to appoint just such an expert to follow the complex
money trail.
Money is power and the UEP Trust reportedly has plenty of it — as much as $120 million by some accounts.
The trust also controls almost all land and housing in and around Colorado City/Hildale, giving Jeffs incredible power
of the day-to-day lives an estimated 8,000 FLDS members who live there.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 05:46 PM
http://www.ktar.com/?sid=803901&nid=6
``When they began to basically clamp down on this group for its illegal activities, it had accumulated assets in excess of $200-million dollars," he said. ``So this was a group that grew very rich, very powerful, often through taxpayers' money."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 05:57 PM
Molly says: In 2000, there was a huge bust up within the FLDS which caused the collapse of the PUBLIC school system
in Colorado City, AZ. The school district was dominated by those loyal to Warren Jeffs and key positions within the
school district were filled by Flds members. Jeffs ordered that the children and teachers be withdrawn from the school
and they did. Those loyal to him were labeled "First ward" and those opposed "Second ward."
60% of all incoming money was spent outside the classroom.
http://www.ktar.com/?sid=803901&nid=6
By the start of the 2001 school year, the district's enrollment fell from 950 students to 300. The state of Arizona has a kind of
"stop-loss" policy for public schools. Commonly known as the "rapid decline" program, it was designed to help struggling rural
schools when military redeployment or severe economic downturn caused a sharp drop in enrollment. The program continues
to fund such schools at previous enrollment levels, allowing the district to gradually ease into a smaller budget.
The first-ward-dominated school board seized on this program, funnelling the extra money to Jeff's followers.
First ward teachers may have resigned, but the support staff roster was packed with loyal first ward janitors,
secretaries and bus drivers- in fact, the student-to-staff ratio was 3 to1. Student-to-staff ratios outside the district
averaged 26 to 1. First ward bus drivers were soon earning $30,000 per year while remaining second ward teachers
started at $20,000. [B]60% of all incoming money was spent outside the classroom. Loyal Jeffs followers drove
district-owned Ford Excursions and Chevy Suburbans. District administrators travelled and dined in restaurants
using school funds.
Because most of the land in the Twin Cities area belonged to the United Effort Plan, it had never been traded on the open
market. This made land values very difficult to assess for tax purposes. This in turn allowed District Administrators to claim
an impoverished tax base for their school system. Even more state money rolled in. Over time, using a complex series
of lease transactions, the FLDS church siphoned off these public monies to fund a system of private schools/religious
academiesteaching FLDS doctrine.
Molly says: In 2000, there was a huge bust up within the FLDS which caused the collapse of the PUBLIC school system
in Colorado City, AZ. The school district was dominated by those loyal to Warren Jeffs and key positions within the school district were filled by Flds members. Jeffs ordered that the children and teachers be withdrawn from the school and they did. Those loyal
to him were labeled "First ward" and those opposed "Second ward."
60% of all incoming money was spent outside the classroom.
http://www.ktar.com/?sid=803901&nid=6
By the start of the 2001 school year, the district's enrollment fell from 950 students to 300. The state of Arizona has a kind of "stop-
loss" policy for public schools. Commonly known as the "rapid decline" program, it was designed to help struggling rural schools when military redeployment or severe economic downturn caused a sharp drop in enrollment. The program continues to fund such schools at previous enrollment levels, allowing the district to gradually ease into a smaller budget.
The first-ward-dominated school board seized on this program, funnelling the extra money to Jeff's followers. First ward teachers may have resigned, but the support staff roster was packed with loyal first ward janitors, secretaries and bus drivers- in fact, the student-to-staff ratio was 3 to1. Student-to-staff ratios outside the district averaged 26 to 1. First ward bus drivers were soon earning $30,000 per year while remaining second ward teachers started at $20,000. [B]60% of all incoming money was spent outside the classroom. Loyal Jeffs followers drove district-owned Ford Excursions and Chevy Suburbans. District administrators travelled and dined in restaurants using school funds.
Because most of the land in the Twin Cities area belonged to the United Effort Plan, it had never been traded on the open market. This made land values very difficult to assess for tax purposes. This in turn allowed District Administrators to claim an impoverished tax base for their school system. Even more state money rolled in.
Over time, using a complex series of lease transactions, the FLDS church siphoned off these public monies to fund a system of private schools/religious academiesteaching FLDS doctrine.
Well the money surely didn't go towards Warren Jeffs' style of dress — what has he been spending it on? :eek:
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 06:10 PM
Well the money surely didn't go towards Warren Jeffs' style of dress — what has he been spending it on? :eek:
Jets, restaurants, wigs... computer and electronic surveillance equipment .. you name it, just look at the list in court records of items recovered from the ranch.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 06:12 PM
http://www.ktar.com/?sid=803901&nid=6
5% of the land in the Twin Cities area was owned by the United Effort Plan Trust, the financial arm of the FLDS church. Families lived
as tenants in homes assigned to them by FLDS leaders. They worked in businesses built by labor 'donated' to the FLDS church.
Jeffs himself lived in a walled compound in Hildale- until he became a fugitive.
http://www.freewillblog.com/index.php/weblog/comments/5712/
photo of jeffs home in colorado city
The assets of this empire included a 55,000 square foot factory, valued at $6 million, that produced precision parts for airlines and defense contractors, a $220,000 Cessna 210 airplane and private airport and numerous private schools. All were property of the FLDS church.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 06:20 PM
http://humaniststudies.org/enews/?article=1&id=243
Of course, contributions to the beast's existence are anathema, so paying one's taxes is a grave sin. Any FLDS member
caught paying property taxes faces excommunication. This has resulted in the nonpayment of more than $1 million
in property taxes of individual FLDS property owners living in Colorado City.
Jeffs himself lived in a walled compound in Hildale- until he became a fugitive.
http://www.freewillblog.com/index.php/weblog/comments/5712/
photo of jeffs home in colorado city
The assets of this empire included a 55,000 square foot factory, valued at $6 million, that produced precision parts for airlines and defense contractors, a $220,000 Cessna 210 airplane and private airport and numerous private schools. All were property of the FLDS church.
OMG! :eek: :eek: :eek:
what a link! :eek: :eek: :eek:
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 06:25 PM
http://humaniststudies.org/enews/?article=1&id=243
The beast can be bled in other ways. The government allows benefits to be paid to child-care providers who are related to their charges, so one wife can be paid for taking care of another wife's children. Both Colorado City and Hildale have received enormous sums for city projects that benefit mostly FLDS members. Colorado City received $2.8 million for an airport that serves only FLDS members.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 06:26 PM
OMG! :eek: :eek: :eek:
what a link! :eek: :eek: :eek:I'm sorta like Fox, I'll post the link.. you decide. LOL
http://humaniststudies.org/enews/?article=1&id=243
The beast can be bled in other ways. The government allows benefits to be paid to child-care providers who are related to their charges, so one wife can be paid for taking care of another wife's children. Both Colorado City and Hildale have received enormous sums for city projects that benefit mostly FLDS members. Colorado City received $2.8 million for an airport that serves only FLDS members.
All this information about the money is astounding — truly so! :eek:
I'm sorta like Fox, I'll post the link.. you decide. LOL
:clap: :clap: :clap:
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 06:29 PM
http://www.ktar.com/?sid=803901&nid=6
October 2005, Fred Barlow Jeffs, then Marshall of Hildale and Colorado City, wrote a letter to Warren Jeffs. "I rejoice in the peace that comes over me when I follow the directives you have sent to me...I have felt a unity between the peace officers. They have all stated to me their desire to follow the directives that are placed before us...I want to fill the position that you would have me fill and do the job the way that you would like it done."
Not laws. Directives. From a fugitive. Not a constitution or legislature.
According to Mohave County, Arizona investigator Gary Engels, by 2007 FLDS doctrine had long since replaced federal and state law. In a CNN interview, Engles said:" It's my experience...that these police officers are not real police officers. They're enforcers for the FLDS church. They're enforcers for Warren."
Officials in the Twin Cities have a long record of resisting state and federal law. There are stories of subpeonas not being served; of suspects being tipped off and then fleeing into the desert. Women attempting to escape forced polygamy know already that the police will simply enforce the 'directives' of the FLDS church. Non-FLDS residents complain that their civil rights are routinely violated.
In an NPR interview, Engels stated: "These people don't have the right to voice their opinion. They don't have the right to criticize."And, in a CNN interview: "I would just love to see the whole community brought back into the United States, where everybody has equal rights."
"The plain fact is that a fundamentalist, fanatical religious sect nearly succeeded in establishing an independent homeland on sovereign U.S. soil, funded by U.S. taxpayers and enforcing religious law.
Civil rights enshrined in the Constitution were ignored. Freedom of religion was non-existant. This disturbing example must be made an temporary aberration lest it become a precedent. Unless it is "brought back into the United States," the Twin Cities area could one day serve as the model for some other, better-funded, fanatical group
galvino
04-27-2008, 06:30 PM
Molly- Thanks so much for all these links! I think you are most qualified to compile thr "FLDS Financials For Dummies" Book I so long for, but until then I am happy going thru these posts and starting the first of what I perceive will be MANY flow charts!
Now if someone could start with a family tree.....
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 06:33 PM
http://helpthechildbrides.com/articles/prescottcourier.htm
"The FLDS Prophet, Rulon Jeffs, ordered the faithful to stop all contact with heathen and apostates -- which meant anybody who is not FLDS. So about 650 children left the 950 student system. "Even though all the church¹s children left, the School Board has remained 100percent FLDS. Remember this as you read."
This is a very poor school district, and the board never tried to build its own schools. Instead, they leased space in buildings
owned by the FLDS church. After the edict in 2000, the district did not need as much space, so even though some leases were paid up for several years in advance, the board relinquished most of it. Now the church has that space for its own schools.
Every negotiation was a sweetheart deal which favored the church at the expense of the taxpayers. Next, the school board pleaded poverty to the newly created Arizona School Facilities Board.The facilities in Colorado City were indeed bad, so in 2001 the state built them a new $6 million K-12 school, and we taxpayers paid for it.
Molly- Thanks so much for all these links! I think you are most qualified to compile thr "FLDS Financials For Dummies" Book I so long for, but until then I am happy going thru these posts and starting the first of what I perceive will be MANY flow charts!
Now if someone could start with a family tree.....
The very idea! :eek:
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 06:37 PM
http://helpthechildbrides.com/articles/prescottcourier.htm
At about the same time, Arizona launched a program to provide a financial cushion for schools in the event of a rapid
decline in enrollment --something usually caused by a major employer shutting down. After the FLDS suddenly removed
two-thirds of the students, the Colorado City district qualified. They have received about $1.5 million per year for the
past three years under this 'rapid decline' program, and will for three more years -- about $9 million total.
So we paid again.
FLDS teachers were forbidden to teach the heathen and apostate kids, so most of them moved to the new church
schools. Most other employees stayed, and the public school district remains the largest employer in the area. It
still has 100 employees, for only 300 students now -- an outrageously high 3 to 1 ratio. Every student is now bussed
to the new school from outlying areas."
"Starting with the Prophet¹s edict in 2000, the FLDS have crafted a scheme that defrauds Arizona taxpayers on several
levels, and it seems that nobody even realizes it. Or nobody cares. District School Supt. Alvin Barlow has been in his job
longer than any other superintendent in the state, so he¹s knowledgeable. (Incidentally, he also has four secretaries
and four administrative aides.)
"Barlow goes to state surplus property sales and gets school equipment and supplies on the cheap, then shares them with
the church schools."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 06:40 PM
http://helpthechildbrides.com/articles/prescottcourier.htm
One of the perks of being a public school official in Colorado City is free transportation. The district owns 15 vehicles (mostly big SUVs, vans, and pickups) which are assigned to various administrators and principals who happen to be FLDS. They¹re supposedly for official business, but they get a lot of personal use with the district paying for fuel, maintenance, and insurance. Free use of a large vehicle is a great benefit for a polygamist family.
This little 300 student district also bought an airplane last year -- a used Cessna 210, for $220,000 -- so the officials can get to meetings easier. Then they contracted with the son of the school board president to fly it for them.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 06:41 PM
Molly- Thanks so much for all these links! I think you are most qualified to compile thr "FLDS Financials For Dummies" Book I so long for, but until then I am happy going thru these posts and starting the first of what I perceive will be MANY flow charts!
Now if someone could start with a family tree.....
:chicken: I love genealogy but even I ain't going there!!:crazy:
http://www.ktar.com/?sid=803901&nid=6
October 2005, Fred Barlow Jeffs, then Marshall of Hildale and Colorado City, wrote a letter to Warren Jeffs. "I rejoice in the peace that comes over me when I follow the directives you have sent to me...I have felt a unity between the peace officers. They have all stated to me their desire to follow the directives that are placed before us...I want to fill the position that you would have me fill and do the job the way that you would like it done."
Not laws. Directives. From a fugitive. Not a constitution or legislature.
According to Mohave County, Arizona investigator Gary Engels, by 2007 FLDS doctrine had long since replaced federal and state law. In a CNN interview, Engles said:" It's my experience...that these police officers are not real police officers. They're enforcers for the FLDS church. They're enforcers for Warren."
Officials in the Twin Cities have a long record of resisting state and federal law. There are stories of subpeonas not being served; of suspects being tipped off and then fleeing into the desert. Women attempting to escape forced polygamy know already that the police will simply enforce the 'directives' of the FLDS church. Non-FLDS residents complain that their civil rights are routinely violated.
In an NPR interview, Engels stated: "These people don't have the right to voice their opinion. They don't have the right to criticize."And, in a CNN interview: "I would just love to see the whole community brought back into the United States, where everybody has equal rights."
"The plain fact is that a fundamentalist, fanatical religious sect nearly succeeded in establishing an independent homeland on sovereign U.S. soil, funded by U.S. taxpayers and enforcing religious law.
Civil rights enshrined in the Constitution were ignored. Freedom of religion was non-existant. This disturbing example must be made an temporary aberration lest it become a precedent. Unless it is "brought back into the United States," the Twin Cities area could one day serve as the model for some other, better-funded, fanatical group
The children's welfare is the very crux of the matter, IMO, of the FLDS raid. if not that small thing, the bleeding of the TAXPAYERS must surely make all sit up and pay attention! :waitasec:
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 06:47 PM
http://helpthechildbrides.com/articles/prescottcourier.htm
"How would you like for the state to pay your food bill, especially if you had dozens of mouths to feed? Would $2,000 a month be OK? This is not uncommon in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). Some families get more."
"According to state and federal guidelines, what counts is the number of people living together. Consequently, they're usually eligible for food stamps, child care, and medical care at government expense." About half of the fundamentalists receive food stamps, compared to five percent statewide. This costs the state and federal governments over $3 million a year for those polygamists in Arizona.
Five years ago there were no Colorado City children getting child care assistance, but last year there were about 200 -- which cost the state another $600,000. These benefits can be paid to care-providers who are related to the children, so sometimes one wife can get paid for taking care of another wife¹s kids.
Colorado City gets back about eight dollars in benefits for every dollar the residents pay in state taxes, while for the rest of Mohave County it¹s about one for one.
galvino
04-27-2008, 06:47 PM
Floh- I agree with you ABSOLUTELY!
Floh- I agree with you ABSOLUTELY!
:blowkiss: :blowkiss: :blowkiss:
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 06:51 PM
The children's welfare is the very crux of the matter, IMO, of the FLDS raid. if not that small thing, the bleeding of the TAXPAYERS must surely make all sit up and pay attention! :waitasec:Well, I certainly hope that with those children in the state's care, once the've sorted out who belongs to who that the states of Utah and AZ get a handle on who should be collecting benefits and who should not. For example, if a child/children were sent to Texas to be raised there by someone else by a man and his wife/wives, and they are still collecting monies, without having the custody and care of the children that their welfare money is cut off. That money should be paid towards the care of the child.
What gets me is that there are many of the women who do work outside the home as teachers in the public school or other "approved" jobs while they're probably collecting benefits off the taxpayer.
Truly
04-27-2008, 06:51 PM
Floh, the 10,000 members vote as their prophet or leaders want them to. It's been rumored that they've voted for Orrin Hatch,
who has claimed to have friends in Hilldale and has not seen any abuse.. If I can find that article again I will post it.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0605/S00364.htm
Molly, is this the one you're looking for? I believe you posted this yesterday.
Orrin Hatch and Sen. Bob Bennett represent Hildale, UT.
And Colorado City, AZ, just across the border, is represented by Senator John McCain and Sen. John Kyle.
Things that make you go hmmm...
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 06:53 PM
http://helpthechildbrides.com/articl...ottcourier.htm
In the well publicized case of Tom Green and his five wives in Utah, the state documented that the Green family received $647,000 between 1989 and 1999 Then they estimated that the grand total (for a longer period) was over $1 million -- just for this one family.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 06:56 PM
http://helpthechildbrides.com/articl...ottcourier.htm
Also, the Arizona Auditor General¹s office has begun an investigation into practices of the Colorado City School Board. They routinely use the schools' credit cards and vehicles for personal use. They spend funds extravagantly, such as buying an airplane, and then make the students raise money to go see The Wizard of Oz.
The students and teachers (none of whom are FLDS any longer) claim that the board members (who are all FLDS) are running the district primarily to benefit the private FLDS schools instead of its own schools. County school officials told state officials that the district is spending state funds improperly, but nothing more has happened. It¹s an 'ongoing investigation.'
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 06:57 PM
http://www.star-telegram.com/state_news/story/585189.html
If the allegations of polygamy and children abuse are proven true, then the proper authorities should terminate their government contracts and tax breaks," said U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, a Waco Democrat whose district stretches from Hood and Johnson counties southward past College Station.
U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Flower Mound, said he too is concerned about the situation.
"These recent discoveries raise many serious questions," said Burgess, whose district includes most of Denton County and part of Fort Worth. "I hope a full and thorough investigation is conducted and completed as soon as possible."
galvino
04-27-2008, 07:00 PM
Dateline starts now on polygamy!
http://www.scoop.co/nz/stories/HL0605/500364.htm
Molly, is this the one you're looking for? I believe you posted this yesterday.
Orrin Hatch and Sen. Bob Bennett represent Hildale, UT.
And Colorado City, AZ, just across the border, is represented by Senator John McCain and Sen. John Kyle.
Things that make you go hmmm...
Going "hmmm..." a lot, but holding myself back as it should be reserved for the political pavillion, i think?
i'll make one snarky remark in that it IS remarkable the the biggest CPS story in the history of the USA has not, to my knowledge, been spoken of by any of the potential presidents of the country or even :silenced: :silenced: :silenced: :silenced: :silenced: :silenced: :blushing: THE current president!
still my mouth! :silenced: :silenced: :silenced: :blushing:
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 07:04 PM
Polygamous sect hid in plain sight of Eldorado By Corrie MacLaggan
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Sunday, April 13, 2008
The church group pays 14 cents a gallon to deliver its liquid waste to Eldorado's sewer plant, City Secretary Carolyn Mayo said. In October, Mayo noticed an increase in the amount of waste the group trucked in. Instead of three loads a week in a 3,000-gallon tanker truck, it was five loads a week, she said. The monthly bill approached $10,000.[/B]
In 2004 and 2005, the ranch applied for permits to discharge sewage into an essentially dry creek, said Terry Clawson, a spokesman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. There was a lot of concern in the community about doing that," Clawson said. Ranch residents withdrew those applications and applied instead for a permit to treat wastewater and apply it to farm land, Clawson said. They got that permit in November 2007 but
haven't completed their sewage plant, he said.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 07:05 PM
http://www.scoop.com.nz/Stories/HL0605/500364.htm
Molly, is this the one you're looking for? I believe you posted this yesterday.
Orrin Hatch and Sen. Bob Bennett represent Hildale, UT.
And Colorado City, AZ, just across the border, is represented by Senator John McCain and Sen. John Kyle.
Things that make you go hmmm... :blowkiss: You're a sweetie! Yes! That's it!! Thanks!
Edited to add: I saw another one about Hatch too.
Truly
04-27-2008, 07:17 PM
:blowkiss: You're a sweetie! Yes! That's it!! Thanks!
Edited to add: I saw another one about Hatch too.
LOL on the word sweet! :blowkiss:
And since I messed up the link, here it is after I finally managed to type it correctly:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0605/S00364.htm
Another very important piece of information from this same article:
You've got Rodney Parker, FLDS's registered agent for the FLDS corporations. He's a former Bush I Associate Deputy Attorney General who was on the immediate staff of the Deputy Attorney General of the US from 1988-89. Parker's now an attorney with the Utah law firm Snow, Christensen and Martineau, which represents the state of Utah.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 07:20 PM
In addition to the YFZ Ranch at Eldorado Tx, Hilldale, Utah and Colorado City, AZ, there are other properties the FLDS own and operate.
http://utahbooks.com/Polygamy_Groups.htm
Pinesdale, Montana, is an incorporated city located just north and west of Hamilton in the beautiful Bitter Root Valley. Pinesdale boasts about 1000 inhabitants. Marvin Jessop and his brother Morris are the priesthood leaders who preside over the town’s elected officials. Pinesdale, like Colorado City and Hildale, has received government grants towards the improvement of the town. And according to reliable informants inside Pinesdale, like Colorado City, plural wives are sent into nearby Hamilton to apply for welfare as single mothers. The informant reported that welfare checks are often taken directly to the priesthood leaders.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 07:36 PM
MOLLY SAYS: For every one story you hear like this, there are thousands more. Each family has had to pay money they earned....if they got a paycheck, over to the church, either the entire paycheck, or a tithe of 10 percent, and then above and beyond that whatever "donations" they were required to give. This occurs not only at Bountiful, but within the US FLDS properties. This is one way the FLDS leaders scam their followers and fill their coffers.
"Teressa Wall testified for her sister Elissa Wall in the Warren Jeffs trial.
She and her husband worked at a post-and-pole-manufacturing mill in Sundre, Alta.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/features/polygamy/story.html?id=883c7513-2c69-4b5a-b826-3d7da9a9bf66&k=59252
Roy got paid $1,000 a month. Of that, 10 per cent had to be paid in tithes. More went to special "donations." With the end of the world coming, Winston ordered frequent practice "famines."
Families were told to stock up. Then, for three months they could not buy any groceries. Grocery money had to be handed over to the church. During one of those "famines," Teressa and her family lived for weeks on only a five-gallon bucket of rice."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 07:37 PM
LOL on the word sweet! :blowkiss:
And since I messed up the link, here it is after I finally managed to type it correctly:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0605/S00364.htm
Another very important piece of information from this same article:
The very same Rodney Parker who's representing the FLDS in Texas, the very same attorney who says abuse doesn't occur within the sect, and that the girls are exaggerating their claims and the boys are all 18 or over and were into lifestyle choices that didn't mesh with the FLDS doctrine. Yeah, that Rodney Parker.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 07:52 PM
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2008/04/18/news/top/doc48095d0a7405a514684976.txt
"The land for the compound was purchased by an FLDS leader close to Warren Jeffs, who has headed the church, headquartered in the twin border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz." "Sheriff Wheeler said the buildings at the Pringle site are “exact replicas” of the ones at Eldorado."
"Custer County officials say the compound complies to the letter with county building regulations and pays its taxes on time. The Pringle compound is much smaller, with five lodges and a number of other buildings sitting on 140 acres in rough country in southwestern Custer County. Sheriff Wheeler has estimated the compound could hold 75 to 100 people."
"Another allegation raised about FLDS communities elsewhere has been that “spiritual” wives have drawn state welfare benefits. But that is not happening at the Pringle compound, according to Emily Currey, a spokeswoman for the South Dakota Department of Social Services.“The folks in the Pringle compound do not receive any benefits or assistance from the Department of Social Services,” Currey said this week. Currey said she did not know how many children are living in the compound. Six children at the compound are registered with the Custer School District for home schooling, district officials said."
MOLLY SAYS: That doesn't mean they aren't collecting from a nearby state. I've heard of cases where I live where persons would file in the two adjoining states. Although those instances were prosecuted, I'm sure there are still cases that are occurring. The FLDS leaders have figured out a lot of angles on how to cheat the system.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 08:01 PM
"The FLDS Church has additional developing communities near Benjamin Hills, Mexico (south of Nogales in the state of Sonora) and the other near Encinada, Baja (south of Tijuana)."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 08:09 PM
MOLLY SAYS: Although some may say this does not relate to following the money I believe it does, because it
concerns the officers of the Law who's salaries were paid by the taxpayers. Since they operated primarily as FLDS
enforcers instead of upholding the law, I'd consider those officers collecting money a form of fraud and abuse of power
Charged with protecting and serving their community, Colorado City police have long had a reputation for protecting and serving
church interests instead. The force, which covers Hildale as well, is reportedly handpicked by FLDS leaders. Call 911 here, say
state investigators, and it is the same as calling the FLDS.
Former police employees and state investigators say officers either ignore molestation allegations or send them to the church
rather than to outside prosecutors. Paul Musser, a former dispatcher for the Colorado City police, was eyewitness to the daily
activity of the station. "Sex crimes were handled very delicately, very discreetly," he said. "They were taken to the prophet."
Sam Roundy, a polygamist and former Colorado City police chief, moonlighted as a church security officer.
He told investigators from the police standards boards of Arizona and Utah who were evaluating his training that between
20 and 25 times he failed to report child sex abuse cases as required by law.
As a result, state child welfare agencies were often unaware of molestation allegations and unable to help or intervene on
behalf of possible victims. Another result was the reluctance of victims to call police in the first place. "I never once
considered going to the police," said Sara Hammon, 30, who told of enduring years of sexual abuse at the hands of her father
and rothers. "Going to the police would have been going against the whole town. Everyone was [molesting]. The church never
said it was all right, but it was treated nonchalantly."
mykodiak
04-27-2008, 08:16 PM
:sick: All I could think while watching Dateline tonight was that somebody in the FLDS has NBC in its pocket. That report was disgusting.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 08:23 PM
Excellent article regarding the public servants paid salaries by taxpayers who routinely denied civil rights to fleeing FLDS girls, women, children and boys.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-sect12may12,0,3267921.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Court records, undisclosed investigative reports and interviews by The Times
over the last year show that church authorities flout state and federal laws and systematically deny rights and freedoms, especially to women and children. "The fact that this has been going on all these years, and the fact that justice has not been there to protect women and children … from amazing civil rights violations — it is an embarrassment," said Utah Atty. Gen. Mark Shurtleff. "I don't want to indict the states of Utah and Arizona, but mea culpa — we are responsible."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 08:24 PM
:sick: All I could think while watching Dateline tonight was that somebody in the FLDS has NBC in its pocket. That report was disgusting.ABC hasn't been too swift in their reporting either.
galvino
04-27-2008, 08:25 PM
AGREED, Zodiak!!!!
Why doesn't CNN or someone show Banking on Heaven, or a follow the $ trail expose- I bet that'll get some folks riled up!
galvino
04-27-2008, 08:26 PM
They need webslueths working for them so they can get their facts straight!
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 08:31 PM
MOLLY SAYS: Some might say this isn't relevant to the money issue. Again it's a public official, who's salary is paid for by taxpayer dollars. The leniency in sentencing by this official beggars the question, who's he working for? The FLDS or for justice for victims?http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy448.html
On both sides of the state line, lenient sentences for sex abuse cases are a common complaint. Sometimes the leniency shocked even defense attorneys. Jim McGhee, attorney for Dan Barlow Jr., was stunned by his client's 13-day sentence. "I saw it as a victory, but the fact that he spent 13 days in jail for molesting five daughters is pretty amazing," he said. "The fact that the judge went along with it is one of the most surprising things."
Mohave County Superior Court Judge Richard Weiss, who presided over the case, said it was really just "a little bit of breast touching." During the father's sentencing proceedings, Judge Weiss was told that Johnson may have molested the man's daughter more times than he admitted in court."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 08:38 PM
http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy339.html
The longtime leader of the Bountiful group, Winston Blackmore, has been deposed by Jeffs. Jeffs has since evicted men who were loyal to Blackmore, and reassigned their wives and children to men who were loyal to him. But Blackmore, long known as the Bishop
of Bountiful, has refused to leave the community. It is his supporters from Hildale and Colorado City who Idaho officials believe are moving into Boundary County, to be closer to their spiritual leader.
"Idaho's Department of Health and Welfare is investigating possible welfare fraud and child brides in Boundary County, which has about 10,000 residents, but has found no evidence that is occurring, spokesman Tom Shanahan said. Idaho law enforcement
officers likewise say they have no reports of laws being broken, and are not even sure how many polygamists have moved into
the county. "There's lots of talk about underage brides, but no one seems to be able to produce one,'' said Boundary County
Sheriff Greg Sprungl. Idaho legislators have formed a special committee to examine persistent claims that child brides are being transported through the state, as part of exchanges between Bountiful and Utah."
The FLDS members in Idaho have bought big parcels of land that accommodate several large houses, and built a school for their children, Palmer said. Located at the foot of dramatic Skimmerhorn Mountain, Bountiful has existed for more than 50 years.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 08:48 PM
Edited to add: THIS IS CRAWFORD COLORDADO, NOT TEXAS (Sorry!)
http://www.kjct8.com/Global/story.asp?S=8160175
"It was shortly after the siege on the Eldorado, Texas compound, that residents in Crawford noticed a large fence going up around a piece of property near town."
"A woman we spoke with, who wishes to remain unnamed, says she met a few of the men who live on the property. She says they told her they are from Texas and they recently moved here. She says they told her they just want to keep to themselves. Other neighbors in Crawford tell us they think more than 100 people live there. They say multiple families are living there and the kids don't go to local schools. Another neighbor tells us they've noticed windows on the property are blocked out and covered up with bricks."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 08:51 PM
EDITED TO ADD: THIS IS CRAWFORD,COLORADO, NOT TEXAS (Sorry!)
http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=90002
*Photos*
(Sheriff) "He says the people living there admitted they are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). He says he does not believe they are polygamists, but the topic did not come up during their visit. McKee says he toured a building and found no evidence of criminal activity and there will be no criminal investigation at the property owned by Neph Barlow. "
just wanted us to be able to look at the property and assure his neighbors that he doesn't have any type of criminal activity going on there and it's just him and his family and hired hands that are working on the property at this time," McKee told reporters at a news conference in Delta.
Neighbors living near Barlow's property, contacted 9Wants to Know after a privacy fence was built, raising concerns. [B]The more than 7-foot-tall fence blocks the property's view of a nearby mountain range that neighbors describe as beautiful.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 08:53 PM
http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=90002
"Another FLDS compound is located in Mancos in Montezuma County."
"The property in Montezuma County shares similar characteristics with the property purchased last year in Delta County. 9Wants to Know has confirmed neither county requires building permits. Residents are able to build without notifying county officials. Both properties are miles from town and offer natural privacy or man made privacy. In Crawford the large privacy fence shields part of the property. In Mancos, mountain terrain and trees block much of the public's view. Huge fields separate homes on both properties from nearby roads and both parcels of land are large with room for growth."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 09:00 PM
EDITED TO ADD: THIS IS CRAWFORD, COLORADO, NOT TEXAS (Sorry!)The property was purchased in mid-2007
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/04/15/041608_1a_Barlow.html
"Delta County Commissioner Olen Lund said the owner of a Crawford ranch, Neph I. Barlow, confirmed he is a member of a polygamist religious group, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Lund said he and Delta County Sheriff Fred McKee toured the 35-acre ranch, located west of 3350 Road and south of B50 Road, at Barlow’s request." “They made it clear they are members of the FLDS, and they are followers of Warren Jeffs,” Lund said. “We asked the question, and that was the answer.”
"Records on file with the Colorado Division of Water Resources show there could be as many as three households planned for the ranch." "Kevin Rein, chief of water supply for the agency, said Barlow’s application to drill a drinking-water well on the property says it would be used to sustain three single-family dwellings, a garden and livestock. He said his agency approved the well permit in January. McKee said Barlow told the county he plans to build two more single-family homes on the property sometime in the future."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 09:03 PM
http://www.childbrides.org/colorado_YFZ_exclusive_by_Krakauer.html
Eldorado Success
"Fundamentalist named David Steed Allred paid $1,394,000 for two 60-acre parcels of land six miles north of Mancos, a small community in Colorado's southwest corner. Allred, moreover, is presently maneuvering to purchase a third 60-acre parcel lying between the other properties, which would give the FLDS Church a private inholding of 180 contiguous acres entirely surrounded by publicly owned National Forest."
"The man who purchased the FLDS property in Colorado, David Allred, is the same man who purchased 1,691 acres for the FLDS Church outside of Eldorado, Texas in November 2003. In both cases Allred told local residents that he was buying the properties to use as a corporate hunting retreat for entertaining clients."
"The new compound is situated 7,900 feet above sea level, in the densely wooded foothills of the San Juan Mountains, perhaps the loveliest and most rugged peaks in Colorado. Wild game is abundant. Jeffs may have been made aware of the place by Sam Roundy, the police chief of Hildale, Utah, whose father and grandfather were raised in Durango, Colorado, 20 miles east Mancos."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 09:05 PM
http://www.childbrides.org/colorado_YFZ_exclusive_by_Krakauer.html
Although its existence came to light less than a month ago, Allred actually purchased the first 60 acres of the Mancos property on July 11, 2003--for $669,000, under his own name--some four months before he purchased the Eldorado FLDS property. Allred bought a second 60-acre parcel for $725,000 on October 8, 2004--this time attempting to disguise the purchase by buying it in the name of a shell corporation called Sherwood Management, Inc., based in Mesquite Nevada. "Officials in Montezuma County, Colorado, initially began to wonder about Allred after Deputy Assessor Scott Davis visited the Mancos property to conduct a routine tax assessment. "During the ten years I've been doing this job, I'd never encountered someone who acted as secretive as Allred,"
The acreage acquired by the FLDS came with three existing homes and several barns and other outbuildings. In 2003 an FLDS construction crew transformed one of these barns into a fourth residence. When Brower and I visited the property on October 22 we discovered two additional residences that had just been built--handsome log homes, three stories high with green metal roofs, the larger of which measures approximately 5,000 square feet. Additionally, we saw at least four vehicles (including a BMW X5 sport utility vehicle registered to one of Allred's plural wives), http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/vehicles/2008/x5/30si/default.aspx?enc=Ff6d8/CVPlheSVvMy7kqE7VwFthTPPfYER64mg4hTKR3FFXYEqH7vVaH HbjMzylf a house trailer, excavating equipment, and building materials stockpiled for further construction." "Both of the new homes are secreted in dense stands of pine and aspen along the back property line, and are not visible from any road. Smoke was rising from the chimneys, but blinds were drawn tightly across every window."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 09:15 PM
http://www.childbrides.org/colorado.html
*Photo
"According to records examined Thursday at the Montezuma County Assessor's office, a nearby 60 acres was sold to Sherwood Management Group, Inc., Oct. 8. A deed of trust for that property, at 15976 County Road 39, is signed by David Allred and also lists him as the president of Sherwood Management, with a postal box address in Mesquite, Nev."
"Allred's initial purchase came to local attention when he declined to let Deputy Assessor Scott Davis into buildings at the 15252 address. Doing so is not illegal, but Davis said that, along with Allred's demeanor, prompted his suspicion.The Sherwood Management property in Mancos went for considerably above market value - $725,000 for agricultural property situated next to public lands. Its assessed valuation, for tax purposes, was $156,900, with a possible market value of $200,000, Davis said Friday."
"His office also said on Thursday that Sherwood Management secured a loan from the Jolujo Management Trust for $325,000, paying cash for the balance. The deed of trust shows a Medford, N.Y., postal box address for Sherwood's lender. A search by the Journal failed to turn up information about Jolujo Trust or a telephone number.
Calls to FLDS attorney Rod Parker were not returned Friday by deadline.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 09:33 PM
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_8809492
The FLDS have other secluded settlements, including one in Mancos, Colo. But elsewhere, such as Mesquite and Las Vegas, Nevada, they have settled into established communities.
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/19430/polygamy-31
Amid the scrutiny FLDS members have left their homes in the twin cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., about 160 miles northeast of Las Vegas, for anonymity and the booming economy of southern Nevada. Many work in the construction industry for companies in Las Vegas, Henderson and Mesquite.
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/19430/polygamy-31
On Gilbert Lane, residents watched as several prebuilt homes popped up and residents who sometimes mingled with neighbors grew more reclusive. “You used to be able to see one little girl who used to come up to the glass window and wave at you,” Donahue said. “Then they immediately put paper up over the windows so she couldn’t. It was a little creepy.”The home’s residents wrapped a green mesh fence around the property, blocking what had been a clear view of the backyard, neighbors said. Donahue recalled stepping outside one night and seeing a man at the house loading a pickup.
“The minute he saw me, he closed all the doors on the truck, ran in the house and turned off all the lights,” she said. “It’s like they don’t want you to see what they are doing. All very mysterious.”
"Jacob Jessop, who owns the Gilbert Lane house, incorporated JNJ Engineering in Las Vegas in 2002. Engels, private investigator Sam Brower and others identified Jessop as an FLDS member. He visited Jeffs in the Clark County Detention Center after his arrest, according to visitor logs."
"The family on Gilbert Lane was ordered by city inspectors late last year to remove three small houses that appeared on his property. They were gone by January, but serenity hasn’t returned to Gilbert Lane. “Everybody’s moving because no one wants to be around the polygamists,” Corral said."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 09:49 PM
http://www.childbrides.org/colorado_abc7_pligs_selling_UT_AZ_parcel.html
"A polygamous sect on the Utah-Arizona border is selling 1,300 acres of surplus land to finance other purchases in Colorado and Texas. "It doesn't really fit in well with their community," Rodney Parker, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' attorney, said Tuesday. "They can use that money for these other projects." "The Arizona Strip parcel for sale doesn't border the church's base in the twin cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., where an estimated 10,000 members live. It's listed for $4.6 million.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 10:04 PM
NewEra Manufacturing (formerly Western Precision)
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/19430/polygamy-31
"Another major business owned by FLDS members in Las Vegas is NewEra Manufacturing, which was called Western Precision before moving from Utah to Nevada in July 2006." Before they moved to Las Vegas, it was the biggest employer in Colorado City,” Brower said. “They have a lot of government contracts.”
"The company’s founder, Wendell Nielsen, is one of Jeffs’ closest confidants, and company President John C. Wayman owned the Cadillac Escalade Jeffs was riding in when he was arrested, Brower said."
http://rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy444.html
Western Precision Inc., a high-tech machine shop that builds components for such products as bicycles, blood pumps and military aircraft. The firm, according to filings in a high-stakes court battle, once funneled as much as $100,000 a month to the FLDS church and its leaders.
"Lawyers for Bruce R. Wisan, the court-appointed overseer now managing the trust, claim Western Precision was a "priesthood project business." Its multi-million dollar building, fixtures and the land it sits on, they argue, are assets of the United Effort Plan Trust, which holds virtually all property in the twin cities. Wisan has supervised holdings in Utah, Arizona and British Columbia, valued at $111 million, since last May after the FLDS church, the trust and its leaders - among them fugitive leader Warren Jeffs - failed to answer two lawsuits that named them as defendants." "Wisan sued Western Precision a day after his appointment, alleging that months after the suits were filed former trustees wrongfully allowed the company to buy the property and building for $25,000 - a fraction of its real value, which he puts at $1.8 million to $5 million. The deal also didn't account for labor and materials contributed by FLDS members, he alleges."
Western Precision disputes Wisan's characterizations of the sale and the company's relationships with the FLDS church and the UEP trust. The company claims it paid fairly for the land, owns the building that it paid for mostly with its own or borrowed funds and that members contributed willingly to the project. Wisan has overstepped his authority and does not have the right to challenge the sale, the company claims. In doing so, he has jeopardized the community's largest employer and inappropriately taken sides in what is, at heart, a religious battle."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 10:08 PM
http://rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy444.html
Attorneys for Western Precision told The Salt Lake Tribune the company made donations to the FLDS church and its leaders in the past but has not done so for two years. It denies taking pay from employees for the church, as some allege. Based on court documents and interviews, that marks a sea change in Western Precision's previously instrumental role in supporting FLDS endeavors.
Funding the faith: Founded by Wendell Nielsen in 1981 in West Jordan, Western Precision is a lucrative enterprise with contracts spanning a range of fields: aerospace, military, automotive, mining, health and fitness and medical. The firm merged in 1992 with another machining business, Utah Tool & Die. Then-FLDS leader Rulon Jeffs, who was president of Utah Tool, didn't see the need for two competing machine shops, according to John Nielsen, one of Wendell's sons. Rulon Jeffs was put on Western Precision's payroll, said John Nielsen, who worked for Western Precision from 1981-1995. He also worked there 2002 to 2004, until he was ousted from the FLDS church. John Nielsen said his father met regularly with Rulon Jeffs and quarterly gave him checks for $10,000 or more. It wasn't the only support the company gave the church."
"Western Precision and several other FLDS-affiliated businesses jointly chartered a Lear jet to fly Rulon Jeffs to Canada and other places to tend church business, John Nielsen said. It also made contributions to Alta Academy, the now-defunct private FLDS school in Sandy that Warren Jeffs once led."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 10:16 PM
MOLLY SAYS: Western Precision was ordered to relocate to Hilldale, Utah after Rulon Jeffs predicted that Salt Lake would be destroyed at the time of the Olympics.
" FLDS faithful rushed to ready a new 55,266-square-foot facility for the company on 3.3 acres on Hildale, which Western Precision agreed to lease for $200 a year." " James K. Tracy, one of Western Precision's attorneys, said the company poured "in excess of $1 million" of its own money into the new facility and paid some companies for their work." "But numerous FLDS businesses and craftsmen in the community - General Rock & Sand, L&M Equipment, Amerock, electricians, plumbers, stucco crews - also donated labor and equipment to finish the building, court documents said. Work continued over the next two years, with volunteer crews spending Saturdays finishing up and modifying the facility."
"There was a time when Wendell [Nielsen, Western Precision's founder] was starving his employees so that he could give their money to the church," Blackmore agreed in an e-mail. "He would tell his employees that they couldn't make payroll" because of the company's contributions to church leaders. Some employees, Blackmore said, went for months "without a hundred dollars." "During at least one Saturday work project meeting - during which residents received voluntary community improvement assignments - a church leader announced Western Precision was contributing $50,000 a month, Holm said in a court document.
The company generated another $50,000 a month by getting employees to work for free on Saturdays, John Nielsen said. Stubbs makes similar claims in his deposition, describing wage cuts and donations Western Precision's employees made.
The company provides jobs for some 100 people who fill round-the-clock shifts. It is widely regarded for its quality work, in recent years garnering two awards as a defense contractor for its innovative business practices.
Western Precision said it sought to purchase its property, beginning in 2003, to calm vendors' concerns about its facility being on trust-owned land; it also wanted to be able to use the real estate as collateral for a $1 million loan. It wrapped up the deal in October 2004, receiving deeds to the land. The price it paid per acre is more than the $2 million Wisan got for 436 acres of UEP land he sold in nearby Apple Valley last year, the company argues.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 10:26 PM
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=508&sid=1072877
*Photo Wendell Neilson
"He's believed to be living in Las Vegas, where his old company operates under a new name, keeping up the flow of money. There's an unverified report Nielsen came back to town last weekend and convened a suit-and-tie meeting, inside a warehouse, surrounded by a fleet of vehicles.
"Former FLDS member Isaac Wyler Former FLDS member Isaac Wyler said, "Wendell Nielsen holds the money string. David Allred has the keys to the houses."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 10:30 PM
http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy636.html
"A dairy and alfalfa farm operated by members of a polygamous sect will be seized to satisfy an $8.8 million judgment against Warren S. Jeffs and the FLDS church. Harker Farms Inc., in Beryl, has until May 25 to either comply with or object to the seizure sought by Bruce R. Wisan, a court-appointed fiduciary overseeing the United Effort Plan Trust. Harker & Sons, the entity that operates the farm, faces the same deadline. The property to be seized includes land, cash and equipment. These assets will be used to pay the judgment and benefit the trust, which could keep the farm or sell it."
"The farm encompasses 400 acres."
Potatoes grown on the farm years ago were processed at a now-defunct processing plant in Colorado City, which, with Hildale, Utah, has been the home base of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Harker, a church counselor and UEP trustee, also oversaw other farming operations in the community." "Like many FLDS business operations, the farm was considered to be consecrated to the church. Harker arranged in 1997 to formally turn the farm over to the FLDS church, said Salt Lake Attorney Rod Parker, who helped Harker with his estate planning. In December of that year, Harker & Sons, which owned and operated the farm, was signed over to the church’s business arm."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 10:41 PM
http://www.childbrides.org/dakota.html
*PHOTOS
"A "prison-like guard tower" was also erected at the entrance to the compound." "Neighbors say that only one man, named Jerald, speaks for the estimated 60 people living here."
http://www.childbrides.org/dakota_kelo_Black_Hills_police_aware_of_Warren.htm l
Electronic gates near Pringle are the entrance to a 100 acre piece of land, home to a polygamist sect. On the ground ... a green metal roof is barely visible through the trees. But in the air ... you can see the layout of the compound.
http://www.childbrides.org/dakota.html
"Copies of deeds filed in Custer County, S.D., and obtained by The Associated Press indicate the land was deeded to Jeffs' loyalist, David Allred, president of Details Unlimited, based in Washington County, Utah, on Sept. 22, 2003."
http://www.childbrides.org/dakota_KELO_compound_in_Pringle_not_hidden_well_en ough.html
**PHOTOS
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 10:44 PM
http://www.childbrides.org/dakota_RCJ_compound_still_growing.html
"Since October 2003, the group has built several structures on the property. More recently, United Land Management, a group tied to the FLDS, bought another 40 acres, owned by Kenneth and Marlene Boggs, adjacent to the compound. The compound bought 15 acres last March for $37,500 and on Oct. 13 paid $275,000 for 25 acres. The second piece of property includes a new 2,400-square-foot log home, according to documents at Custer County Courthouse. Compound members also have begun work on another, larger lodge, according to Custer County equalization director Les Struble. That building will total more than 14,000 square feet and contain 18 bedrooms and 14 bathrooms, according to documents filed at Custer County Planning Department. Group members have been building one or two lodges a year on the fenced-off, gated compound, Struble said. He estimated that the existing lodges are about 3,000 square feet each. "The existing ones are set up like a bed and breakfast," he said. They have large kitchen and living rooms, plus separate bedrooms and bathrooms. The lodges vary in size and have five to 10 bedrooms per building."
The property’s current assessed value is about $1.5 million, including the Boggs property, Struble said. After the new lodge is finished, the total assessment likely will rise to between $2.5 million and $3 million.
The compound will have a tax bill next year of about $30,000. After the new lodge is finished, the tax bill will rise to an estimated $50,000 or $60,000 per year, Struble said. "Struble said he talks with only two or three men on his assessment visits. They give only their first names."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 10:45 PM
For more articles about Pringle, SD. FLDS compound:
http://www.childbrides.org/dakota.html
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 10:59 PM
Behind a half-opened door stand five unsecured rifles. As one of 350 independent schools in B.C., Bountiful receives a funding allotment from the provincial government of about $550,000 annually. This covers almost all the costs of the 200-student school. A 10 percent tithe from Bountiful followers covers the rest. Despite the rumours of sexual abuse of children within Bountiful, educational inspectors have not discovered evidence of a single problem. Academically, however, student achievement is lacklustre. A study of B.C.'s independent schools last year showed that over 50 percent of grade seven students in Bountiful rated "poor" in reading, writing, and math skills. Judged by what's on the school's walls, it is religion that's most important. Posters of Mormon prophets, some bearded, all stern, including the current clean-shaven prophet Rulon T. Jeffs, vie with scores of Biblical quotations.
"Winston does divvy up some of the school's education allotment to twenty single mothers-the celestial wives of polygamous husbands -- who each earn $700 a month as teaching assistants. He also runs a successful wood-treatment plant in nearby Cranbrook. But a lot of people survive on seasonal jobs: picking fruit, digging potatoes, processing chickens, doing some small-scale logging, or helping harvest the commune's estimated 1,000 hectares of canola and timothy. Unlike Colorado City, Arizona, where there are reported to be scores of UEP single mothers on welfare, Blackmore boasts that no one receives welfare in his community."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 11:22 PM
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2008/apr/16/flds-linked-to-low-bid-construction-firms/
Among the most successful enterprises held by members of the sect are at least three construction and contracting companies based in Hildale, Utah, home of apparent sect leader Warren Jeffs. The largest of these is JNJ Engineering Construction, owned by sect member Jacob Nathan Jessop, for whom the company is named."
"Among the projects that JNJ Engineering has won in recent years:
$4 million to build a flood-control improvement project for Las Vegas. Construction began in February and is expected to last 11 months.
$2.4 million to revitalize or build 6,500 feet of walking trails, 1,500 feet of paved road and 16 picnic areas in a nature preserve for the Las Vegas Valley Water District in 2005.
$1.6 million to replace and upgrade the service lines between water meter and water mains. The Las Vegas Valley Water District awarded the contract in June 2005.
$880,500 to improve street drainage for the Pima County Regional Flood Control District in Arizona in a contract awarded in 2005."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 11:27 PM
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2709009
*Photos child laborers
"Another FLDS-linked company, Paragon, was hit with a permanent injunction a few weeks ago by a federal judge. It was for "repeatedly and willfully" violating child labor laws. We encountered a Paragon crew last week and saw no children. But the workers suddenly stopped and drove away as soon as they saw our camera."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 11:31 PM
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1354729/
"In addition, JNJ Engineering, a company owned and operated by FLDS leaders, has made millions of dollars in Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported in September. The company won $11.3 million in contract work from the Las Vegas Valley Water District;
all but one of the project workers came from the twin towns of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz., where most of the sect's 10,000 members live.
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 11:35 PM
http://web.sccn2.net/FLDS/Started.htm
" approximately January 2004. Three - 3 story buildings on a three section ranch for a hunting retreat owned by " YFZ ( Yearning For Zion) Land Development".
Further investigation by Schleicher County Sheriff and Eldorado Success revealed the YFZ was a holding company for Warren Jeffs and the FLDS."
mollymalone
04-27-2008, 11:54 PM
DAGROW TRUSS & COZY LOG HOMES
In Mesquite, FLDS members have run several companies, including Dagrow Truss and Cozy Log Homes."
"Nicholes said activity at Dagrow Truss slowed after Jeffs’ arrest last year, and FLDS workers have all but disappeared from Mesquite. An unidentified woman who answered the phone at Dagrow Truss said no one would comment." "A phone message to Cozy Log Homes went unreturned. One of the managing members of Cozy Log Homes, Kelly Fischer, was the first FLDS member to be tried in Mohave County on charges related to underage brides. He was convicted last year of sexual contact with a minor and sentenced to 45 days in jail."
HENDERSON BASED COMPANY
"Brower works for a law firm that is suing Jeffs and the church on behalf of women who allege they were sexually abused within the church, and on behalf of young men who were kicked out of the church." "He and Engels identified a Henderson-based company that made lanyards for Snugz, a Salt Lake City company. A lanyard is a cord that hangs around the neck to display security badges and event passes.""Jon Clave, 24, who worked for another company in the same warehouse in Henderson, recalled going into the factory to ask for the return of a borrowed forklift. Clave said he walked in on a room full of kids. Four or five boys, three girls. “They just sat there in dead silence. No one said anything,” he said. A few months later, the business closed and the workers disappeared." Snugz owner Brandon Mackay said FLDS workers were manufacturers for some of the company’s products when he bought it in the spring of 2005. He ended the relationship last year for business reasons, he said."
mollymalone
04-28-2008, 12:01 AM
http://www.myeldorado.net/YFZ%20Pages/YFZ031705b.html
"Shem Fischer, who was once employed by a cabinet company in Hilldale, UT, alleges in the lawsuit that he ws wrongfully terminated from his job because he no longer adhered to the town's dominate FLDS faith."
MOLLY SAYS: The new settlement at Crawford Texas is supposed to have a "cabinet company." No idea if it was moved from Hilldale to Crawford, or if it is a separate company.
mollymalone
04-28-2008, 12:09 AM
http://helpthechildbrides.com/articles/prescottcourier.htm
"The church-controlled United Effort Plan owns most of the property. A worthy family can be assigned a building space but they pay for building their own house on it, and then it belongs to the U.E.P. Homes are built piecemeal and expanded as necessary -- pay as you go, no mortgages. Since a home is rarely finished, the tax bill stays small. If a family leaves or is evicted, they own nothing. (Financial control also -- you stay "in harmony" with the Prophet or lose your home.)"
mollymalone
04-28-2008, 12:36 AM
I have a question, the assesor said that the YFZ did not ask for an exemption. If a church asks for an exemption, do they have to provide any documentation that they are a church?
Does anyone really think they are a poor little sect?
I mean, being investigated for offshore accounts, having investments in tin mines in Bolivia, and all sorts of other venues, such as banks, restaurants etc.. the amounts they've been generating through public funds or contracts... that's a LOT of money they've been salting away...er..in Warren Jeffs case, frittering it away.
I have a question, the assesor said that the YFZ did not ask for an exemption. If a church asks for an exemption, do they have to provide any documentation that they are a church?
Does anyone really think they are a poor little sect?
I mean, being investigated for offshore accounts, having investments in tin mines in Bolivia, and all sorts of other venues, such as banks, restaurants etc.. the amounts they've been generating through public funds or contracts... that's a LOT of money they've been salting away...er..in Warren Jeffs case, frittering it away.
Just WHO could believe this group are poor?
Mollymalone: i must say your research on this thread is staggering! thank you so very much. my jaw continues to drop at all revealed on this money trail. :eek:
mollymalone
04-28-2008, 11:04 AM
Just WHO could believe this group are poor?
Mollymalone: i must say your research on this thread is staggering! thank you so very much. my jaw continues to drop at all revealed on this money trail. :eek:Thank you. I started researching this because I was fascinated at how much money there really seemed to be flowing around the leaders while reports of other "lesser" members being barely able to exist were known.
I'm sure there are more articles on the net that I didn't find, but it's clear that this sect has a lot of money flowing into it's coffers.
Since they've decided not to register as a church or file for exemptions that churches are allowed it beggars the question of why? Would they have to release their financial worth to someone?
i.b.nora
04-28-2008, 01:29 PM
The property that you say is in Crawford, Texas is actually in Crawford, Colorado.
mollymalone
04-28-2008, 08:37 PM
The property that you say is in Crawford, Texas is actually in Crawford, Colorado.Oops! :blushing: Thanks, :blowkiss: I'll fix that! I had Texas on the brain... :)
mollymalone
04-28-2008, 09:55 PM
MOLLY SAYS: I'm placing the lawyers here because it is an expense incurred by the FLDS.
These lawyers have been retained by the FLDS to represent them and attorneys like these aren't cheap.
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2008/apr/10/teen-girls-from-yfz-ranch-near-eldorado-have/
Gerry Goldstein, the San Antonio attorney representing FLDS bishop Lyle Jeffs, a brother of former sect
leader Warren Jeffs Goldstein conceded, however, that the state has an interest in searching the
compound to investigate allegations of child abuse.
Dan Hurley, a Lubbock attorney representing compound leader Merrill Jessop, also declined to comment
on any of the affidavits that have been released detailing the alleged activities on his client's ranch,
saying he had yet to read them.
Attorney Richard Wright leaves the Tom Green County Courthouse after the first day of hearings
concerning the 400-plus children removed from the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado. Wright was the lead
defense attorney for Warren Jeffs.
http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2008/04/sect-married-girls-at-puberty.php
Patrick Peranteau, lawyer for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
mollymalone
04-28-2008, 10:35 PM
MOLLY SAYS: I'm placing the attorneys here becuase that is an expense incurred by the FLDS and
attorneys like these are not cheap. Especially one who represents you time and again in numerous
court hearings or acts as your spokesman.
Rodney Parker has represented the FLDS in numerous cases and is currently the FLDS
spokesperson.
Rodney Parker, FLDS's registered agent for the FLDS corporations. He's a former Bush I Associate
Deputy Attorney General who was on the immediate staff of the Deputy Attorney General of the
US from 1988-989. Parker's now an attorney with the Utah law firm Snow, Christensen
and Martineau, which represents the state of Utah.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00117.htm
On the local level, the twin towns of Hildale-Colorado City, for instance, are organized as the United
Effort Plan (UEP). UEP is "unofficially" represented by attorney Rodney Parker.
Parker represented both the now-unseated Hildale polygamist Judge Walter Steed and
convicted Colorado City polygamist cop Rodney Holm. Parker is with the law firm of Snow,
Christensen and Martineau, which also represents the State of Utah.
Rodney Parker is also the registered agent of the FLDS Corporations and Twin City Academy, Inc.
in Hildale; all the above in good standing in the State of Utah.
CPS REMOVES CHILDREN
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=3080462FLDS spokesman Rod Parker says the separation of
the mothers from their children was involuntary."Just because there's a logistical issue doesn't mean that
you can violate the constitutional rights of 500 parents and children," Parker said. "Well, that's a very
serious issue if this call turns out to be a hoax, and I think there's a lot of suggestion that that may
ultimately be what happened," Parker said.
mollymalone
04-28-2008, 10:46 PM
Rodney Parker cont'd.
B]UEP EVICTION CASE & APPEAL[/B]
http://www.childbrides.org/lenore.html
http://www.childbrides.org/lenore2.html
Salt Lake City attorney Rodney Parker, representing UEP, argued that permission to stay on the land
depends on whether or not the Holms are church members
AN APPEAL
http://www.childbrides.org/lenore_spec_judge_rules_couple_can_stay.html
During the case presented to the Arizona Superior Court in May 2003, UEP Attorney Rod Parker
dismissed the story from Lenore Holm's daughter as irrelevant to the case and said the reason for
the eviction was not based on religion.
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/5625/flds-prophet-thins-flock
"the faith’s prophet excommunicated at least a dozen men....
Rodney Parker, a Salt Lake City attorney who has represented FLDS members, said he had been
informed of Saturday’s purge...
mollymalone
04-28-2008, 10:51 PM
Rodney Parker cont'd.
http://rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy235.html
Concerned family members filed a missing person report Friday on the longtime bishop ....... Fred Jessop.
Jessop, 94, apparently hasn't been seen since December, but the missing person report was filed Friday
afternoon with the Washington County Sheriff's Office.
FLDS and UEP attorney Rodney Parker said the missing person report was a publicity stunt by those who
filed it.
Sex charge Case against Rodney Holm, former FLDS Police Officer
-two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- or 17-year-old and one count of bigamy
http://www.childbrides.org/rodney_spect_defense_rests.html
Defense attorney Rodney Parker said his expert witnesses would be needed to explain religious concepts
and deeper understanding of a "door" he said the prosecution left wide open -- the door of polygamy.
"Polygamy is not on trial. Mr. Holm is on trial," said Assistant Attorney General Kristine Knowlton.
If he was not allowed expert witnesses, Parker said he believed the case should be declared a mistrial
THERE ARE MANY MORE INSTANCES WHERE PARKER WAS SPOKESPERSON -GOOGLE
"FDLS RODNEY PARKER" FOR MORE. IMO I'd say his work for the FLDS fattens his bank account.
Leila
04-28-2008, 11:57 PM
Molly...........thanks for all your in depth research! Outstanding job! :clap:
After reading this thread, it leaves me angry and sickened that the FLDS has amassed a fortune, "bleeding the beast", and all the time breaking laws, raping children, physically abusing children, treating women as slaves and breeding stock! :mad:
mollymalone
04-29-2008, 12:01 AM
In 2005 Judge Steed was removed from office.
COURT DOCUMENT:
http://www.utcourts.gov/opinions/supopin/Steed2022406.pdf
Steed is a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and it appears
that the Hildale City Council’s choice for his replacement will also be a member of the church,
albeit not a practicing polygamist.
The Utah Supreme Court wrote:
Judge Steed’s relationship with his three plural wives for more than twenty years clearly runs afoul of
[Utah’s bigamy statute]….Judges in this state are expected to abide by all of the laws applicable to
them. Civil disobedience carries consequences for a judge that may not be applicable to other citizens.
The dignity and respect accorded the judiciary is a necessary element of the rule of law. When the law
is violated or ignored by those charged by society with the fair and impartial enforcement of the law,
the stability of our society is placed at undue risk.
Steed has accepted the court’s decision, but he regrets that the court didn’t address the underlying
legal issues. In a statement, he said: “I had hoped that the court would see my case as an opportunity
to correct the injustices that are caused by the criminalization of my religious beliefs and lifestyle, and I
am disappointed that the court did not reach those issues in my case….I am hopeful that the court will
eventually consider the issue of polygamy as an aspect of personal privacy, marital rights and religious
freedom…I am proud of my efforts to bring the issue before the court and the people of Utah.”Steed’s
attorney, Rod Parker, says that the bigamy statute is never enforced and questions why his client has
been singled out.
mollymalone
04-29-2008, 12:06 AM
http://rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy448.html
Officials also knew local laws in Colorado City and adjacent Hildale, Utah, were enforced by polygamous
police officers and administered by a polygamous judge — and that police routinely referred alleged sex
crimes to church leaders. Like some in the local police force, other area public officials also came from
the polygamous community. In Hildale, Judge Walter K. Steed spent 25 years adjudicating cases on the
local justice court. He had two wives when he was appointed, and later added a third.
http://www.sweenytod.com/rno/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1365
A small-town judge who has three wives should not be removed from the bench because his private
behavior has not tarnished the office he holds, the judge's attorney told the Utah Supreme Court on
Wednesday. Steed's attorney argued at Wednesday's hearing that while drug abuse, for example, might
be grounds for removal, Steed's private behavior in his home should not be. ''The question is whether
polygamy rises to a different level of disrepute than something else,'' attorney Rodney Parker said.
But those seeking to remove Steed argue that he shouldn't break the laws he took an oath to uphold.
''Judges are expected to live to a different standard,'' said Colin Winchester, the commission's
executive director.
Steed has served for 25 years in the southern border town of Hildale, handing down rulings in drunken
driving and domestic violence cases.
mollymalone
04-29-2008, 12:14 AM
http://chris-cohen.blogspot.com/2005/11/mormon-utah-judge-married-to-3-sisters.html
A 14 month investigation of Judge Walter K. Steed of Hilldale, Utah has determined that Steed
violated the Utah law against bigamy by marrying three sisters. These marriages took place in
1965, 1975, and 1985. One sister per decade apparently. Judge Steed also has 32 kids, that's
quite a few Steeds.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1109859540069
One issue is Steed's contention that the law allowing prosecutors to pursue people who consider
themselves plurally married but aren't legally married is unconstitutional. Utah's attorney general
and the Washington County attorney previously declined to file criminal charges against Steed.
http://www.childbrides.org/cops_SLCW_judge_not.html
If a Judge can have more than one wife what's stopping you?
mollymalone
04-29-2008, 12:19 AM
http://www.getreligion.org/?p=3388
13. Mina April 13, 2008, at 11:47 am
Several FLDS police officers and a judge (Walter Steed, who signed commitment orders for husbands
who wanted their wives committed to mental institutions, allegedly to punish them) were (finally)
forced out of thier jobs a couple of years ago. The mayors of Colorado City have all been FLDS members
with multiple wives. The city councilmembers have all been FLDS. These officials had gone unchallenged f
or decades, and during that time they certainly had the power to subvert the law to protect their way of
life.....For more detail, see this link: http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/09/21/polyg.media/index.html
**LINK NO LONGER WORKS DUE TO NO LONGER IN ARCHIVE**
mollymalone
04-29-2008, 12:28 AM
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-polygamyenclave-13may1206,0,6534347,full.story
Women and girls, needed as wives, are rarely pushed out. Instead, those who disobey face being sent to
mental hospitals. Pam Black said her now deceased husband, a Colorado City police officer, would hold
the phone and threaten to dial 911 whenever she refused his commands. "He would say he was going to
have me handcuffed and taken to an insane asylum," said Black, a former FLDS member. "That's all
a man had to do, call 911."
Sworn affidavits of FLDS women have accused law enforcement here of illegally transporting them
to mental facilities without due process. The affidavits were submitted as part of an Arizona state
inquiry into local police practices. In one instance described under oath, a woman fleeing her abusive
husband was picked up by the local sheriff's deputy, an FLDS member, and taken to a hospital in
Utah. According to the affidavit, the deputy called the prophet, not his law enforcement superiors,
and was directed to a Provo, Utah, mental facility. Other women said they were taken by police
to the Guidance Center, a mental hospital in Flagstaff, Ariz.
Laurene Jessop ended up there after brawling with a "sister wife" who she said had tried to strangle her
daughter. Their husband summoned the police. Two Colorado City officers arrived, handcuffed Laurene
Jessop and took her in a police car to the Guidance Center, she said. "They didn't give me a choice," she
said, recalling that the officers told her, " 'You're not keeping sweet -- you are being rebellious.' "It all
happened quickly. She did not grant permission to be admitted and "there was no court proceeding that
I know of," Laurene Jessop said. The clinic's discharge summary, obtained by The Times, said
Laurene Jessop suffered post-traumatic stress syndrome stemming from childhood sexual abuse. It said she
also suffered stress in her relations with sister wives, and proposed that she seek couple's counseling
with Warren Jeffs.
mollymalone
04-29-2008, 12:39 AM
Molly...........thanks for all your in depth research! Outstanding job! :clap:
After reading this thread, it leaves me angry and sickened that the FLDS has amassed a fortune, "bleeding the beast", and all the time breaking laws, raping children, physically abusing children, treating women as slaves and breeding stock! :mad:Thank you Leila. My blood boils when it comes to the public officials, taking taxpayer money and not upholding the law equally but acting as the enforcers of the FLDS. I saw a comment that over the decades it's cost tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent welfare and other benefits.
I say if the man and woman want that many kids then by golly they better be able to support them. I have no problem with benefits being paid to those who need a helping hand, not a hand out. But this is systematic abuse of the system. IMO
mollymalone
04-29-2008, 12:42 PM
So, now that it's clear that the FLDS had "church" members in positions of power within the Court, LE and the Wic office and other agencies within Colorado City and Hilldale, it's not hard to see how these women within the sect were able to apply for and receive benefits without having proper documentation such as social sec. no, birth certificates, driver's license or other id.
They can receive benefits, sent to the address designated by the church, and those benefits can continue arriving while the women can, and are, sent to Canada or other states. They don't even need to be there for any kind of renewal or updated information required by the state.
All they do is sign the paperwork, unless it's signed for them by other "trusted" women using their name, or signed by the men, and its submitted with false information or someone else's legit information. Presto.
Benefits on a stick.
So, now that it's clear that the FLDS had "church" members in positions of power within the Court, LE and the Wic office and other agencies within Colorado City and Hilldale, it's not hard to see how these women within the sect were able to apply for and receive benefits without having proper documentation such as social sec. no, birth certificates, driver's license or other id.
They can receive benefits, sent to the address designated by the church, and those benefits can continue arriving while the women can, and are, sent to Canada or other states. They don't even need to be there for any kind of renewal or updated information required by the state.
All they do is sign the paperwork, unless it's signed for them by other "trusted" women using their name, or signed by the men, and its submitted with false information or someone else's legit information. Presto.
Benefits on a stick.
It's another country operating inside America. a country without borders as we know it. :eek:
mollymalone
04-29-2008, 01:35 PM
It's another country operating inside America. a country without borders as we know it. :eek:I read an article that stated that sentiment exactly!!
They've collected hundreds of thousands in benefits over the years,
and millions in contracts, and then all of the investments etc..
I wonder just how much money has been socked away or has been
spent by them over the years that came from fraud. I bet the number would be astounding.
Truly
04-29-2008, 02:05 PM
So, now that it's clear that the FLDS had "church" members in positions of power within the Court, LE and the Wic office and other agencies within Colorado City and Hilldale, it's not hard to see how these women within the sect were able to apply for and receive benefits without having proper documentation such as social sec. no, birth certificates, driver's license or other id.
They can receive benefits, sent to the address designated by the church, and those benefits can continue arriving while the women can, and are, sent to Canada or other states. They don't even need to be there for any kind of renewal or updated information required by the state.
All they do is sign the paperwork, unless it's signed for them by other "trusted" women using their name, or signed by the men, and its submitted with false information or someone else's legit information. Presto.
Benefits on a stick.
How about Voter Registration? The FLDS have been controlling the school boards in Colorado City and Hildale, even though they have pulled all of their children out of the schools. They have been voting crooked judges into office, etc. I am curious if the women were permitted to register to vote, or if their rights under the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution have been violated. If they were registered to vote, there should be documentation of their proof of identity. If the women were forced to vote in accordance with the leaders directive, there could be massive voter fraud going on. Another Federal crime.
mysteriew
04-29-2008, 03:39 PM
Was there welfare fraud in Eldorado?
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2008/04/28/was_there_welfare_fraud_in_eld.html
FlowerChild
04-29-2008, 04:08 PM
Was there welfare fraud in Eldorado?
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/politics/entries/2008/04/28/was_there_welfare_fraud_in_eld.html
They don't get "welfare" in Texas (they don't own the town/local Govt here and "welfare" would require documentation and supervision by the REAL Govt.). What they DO get is....WIC, Food Stamps, Section 8 (or similar) Housing Subsidies and other assistance that is designed to benefit poor single mothers, the working poor and transient populations (like farm workers).
They are living on a property WORTH over 20 MILLION$$$ and they have husbands (spiritual ones) who make HUGE amounts of money (not personally, but for for the "collective" UEP) and are certainly not starving or homeless - and yet WE are giving them subsidies for FOOD, CLOTHING and HOUSING needs. Subsidies that other women can't get or qualify for.
Isn't it nice that WE are helping support women who give their 14 year old daughters to OLD MEN so they can be impregnated and once they have a child - themselves go and collect assistance?
My Opinion
mollymalone
04-30-2008, 12:41 AM
How about Voter Registration? The FLDS have been controlling the school boards in Colorado City and Hildale, even though they have pulled all of their children out of the schools. They have been voting crooked judges into office, etc. I am curious if the women were permitted to register to vote, or if their rights under the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution have been violated. If they were registered to vote, there should be documentation of their proof of identity. If the women were forced to vote in accordance with the leaders directive, there could be massive voter fraud going on. Another Federal crime.Now that's a question I hadn't considered. I'd read that they all vote the way their prophet tells them to, but I guess I'd assumed that meant the men only, but with 10,000 members, (does that number count the children or not?) that's some serious voting power for a local, regional or state candidate.
mollymalone
04-30-2008, 01:32 AM
To give an idea of how much taxpayer money has been enriching the FLDS and people like the polygamist Tom Green, this is an excerpt from Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Kraukauer.
"Investigators from the Utah attorney General's office have documented that between 1989 and 1999, Tom Green and his dependents received more than $647,000 in state and federal assistance, including $203,000 in food stamps and nearly $300,000 in medical and dental expenses. These same investigators estimate that had they been granted complete access to pertinent government files as far back as 1985, when Green began his polygamous lifestyle, they would have been able to show that Green received well over $1 million in welfare."
That's $1,150,000 in two years for just ONE family.
Now, add in all those other FLDS families that had the same amount of dependents and those that have more wives and children than Green had, that live in Utah or filed for benefits in Utah and live elsewhere.... and multiply those figures (or more) for about the same time frame. Add in those who live in and filed in Arizona and those who filed there but live elsewhere. Add in Nevada. Add in the Canadian welfare benefits for the FLDS members who receive benefits.
The amount is staggering.
Now, just because officials in South Dakota, Colorado or elsewhere say that they don't have records of anyone from the local compounds/ranches filing for welfare, that doesn't mean they haven't filed in another town or state using a different address.
I've read that some families get as much as 2000 dollars a month OR MORE in tax payer subsidies. When you put that figure up against the persons who are more deserving of the help and can't get it.... and to what uses the FLDS is putting the money to....it's obscene.
LinasK
04-30-2008, 01:32 AM
Now that's a question I hadn't considered. I'd read that they all vote the way their prophet tells them to, but I guess I'd assumed that meant the men only, but with 10,000 members, (does that number count the children or not?) that's some serious voting power for a local, regional or state candidate.
Just a wild guess, but I'm guessing they didn't vote for Hillary, because she's a female in power, not their idea of "keeping sweet"!
mollymalone
04-30-2008, 01:34 AM
In "Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer, he wrote:
"Despite the fact that Uncle Rulon and his followers regard the governments of Arizona, Utah
and the United States as Satanic forces out to destroy the UEP, their polygamous community
receives more than 6 million a year in public funds.
More than 4 million of government largesse flows each year in to the
Colorado City public school district-which according to the Phoenix New Times, is operated primarily
for the financial benefit of the FLDS Church
and for the personal enrichment of FLDS school district leaders.
Reporter John Doughtery determined that school administrators have plundered the district's treasury
by running up thousands of dollars in personal expenses on district credit cards, purchasing expensive
vehicles for their personal use and engaging in extensive travel.
Colorado City has received 1.9 million from the US. Dept of Housing and Urban Development to pave
its streets, improve the fire dept. and upgrade the water system. Immediately south of the city limits,
the federal government built a 2.8 million airport that serves almost no one beyond the fundamentalist
community.
"Uncle Rulon justifies all that assistance form the wicked government by explaining that really
the money is coming form the Lord... "We're taught that its the Lord's way of
manipulating the system to take care of his chosen people."
mollymalone
04-30-2008, 01:38 AM
Just a wild guess, but I'm guessing they didn't vote for Hillary, because she's a female in power, not their idea of "keeping sweet"!:o Definitely not. No woman is to be over a man in their eyes. We're not worthy. :rolleyes: pfffft
http://www.childbrides.org/colorado_YFZ_exclusive_by_Krakauer.html
Eldorado Success
"Fundamentalist named David Steed Allred paid $1,394,000 for two 60-acre parcels of land six miles north of Mancos, a small community in Colorado's southwest corner. Allred, moreover, is presently maneuvering to purchase a third 60-acre parcel lying between the other properties, which would give the FLDS Church a private inholding of 180 contiguous acres entirely surrounded by publicly owned National Forest."
"The man who purchased the FLDS property in Colorado, David Allred, is the same man who purchased 1,691 acres for the FLDS Church outside of Eldorado, Texas in November 2003. In both cases Allred told local residents that he was buying the properties to use as a corporate hunting retreat for entertaining clients."
"The new compound is situated 7,900 feet above sea level, in the densely wooded foothills of the San Juan Mountains, perhaps the loveliest and most rugged peaks in Colorado. Wild game is abundant. Jeffs may have been made aware of the place by Sam Roundy, the police chief of Hildale, Utah, whose father and grandfather were raised in Durango, Colorado, 20 miles east Mancos."
This is sacrilege to me; they are depriving the public the right to view or access a large piece of Colorado's most beautiful areas in order to hide what they up doing. :( :furious:
ETA: Thank you for all of the information, Molly.
This really is the Taliban in America, we have to stop them. I hope the other states do something about this mess too, religious freedom is not about stealing, lying, pedophilia and cheating. All in the name of God, my butt.
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 12:13 AM
This is sacrilege to me; they are depriving the public the right to view or access a large piece of Colorado's most beautiful areas in order to hide what they up doing. :( :furious:
ETA: Thank you for all of the information, Molly.You're welcome. They've done the same thing in S.D. and in Crawford, Colorado and elswhere, putting up walls. The neighbors who were there before, the FLDS don't care about their rights either.
A peice of irony, the FLDS never bothered to get the mineral rights to their YFZ ranch, and there was oil found on the neighboring ranch. The neighbors actually DO have the mineral rights and the right to plant an oil derrick right smack dab in the middle of their compound to drill for the oil. :clap:
It's quite likely they didn't purchase the mineral rights in Colorado either.
I've read about the mineral rights in CO and if they didn't purchase the rights along with the property there the same thing can happen and they'll have no recourse.
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 02:11 AM
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635205928,00.html
"I believe Warren Jeffs ran the FLDS Church and the UEP as an organized crime-type setup," Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said Monday. "We just have to get the evidence to prove it." The attorney general said Jeffs and the FLDS Church are being looked at for "double books, cooking books, offshore accounts and fraud."
"We've been following closely what the special fiduciary is uncovering from records and so forth," he said. "It has been very informative, we'll say."
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 02:15 AM
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635205928,00.html
"another FLDS property in Mexico, near Cancun. On Jeffs' wanted poster, it lists a possible location as
Quintana Roo, Mexico.
However, Mary Batchelor with the pro-polygamy group Principle Voices said she has been to the area and
no FLDS members are there. She said there is a colony of polygamists there but they are members of the
LeBaron family. There's only about eight homes there. It's not a very big community and they would know
if there are any other fundamentalists there," she said
http://www.mormonfundamentalism.com/ChartLinks/FLDSChurch.htm
" the FLDS Church has additional developing communities near Benjamin Hills, Mexico (south of Nogales
in the state of Sonora) and the other near Encinada, Baja (south of Tijuana)"
http://utahbooks.com/Colorado_City_Polygamists_3.htm
Q. It appears that Warren Jeffs is settling up other areas for his group.
A. Everyone now knows that Warren Jeffs has purchased property near Eldorado, Texas, in Schleicher
County. Three apartment-type complexes have been erected on the 1300 acre site, and at least two
more complexes are under construction. Allen Steed, ordained a patriarch by Warren Jeffs, is the man
in charge of this compound, called Yearning For Zion (YFZ). His counselors are Roy Steed, Ernie Jessop,
and David Allred. It is rumored that some of Warren’s loyal followers did not want to go to Mexico,
so the Texas compound was established to accommodate them. There is evidence that Warren Jeffs has at
least two other developing compounds as well: one near Benjamin Hills, Mexico, south of Nogales in the
state of Sonora; the other
The FLDS has long been familiar with Mexico and there are other polygamy groups there. Back in the
1940s John Barlow tried to establish a colony in Mexico in cooperation with Dare LeBaron, father of Ervil
LeBaron. But when Dare insisted on being the priesthood leader of the entire group, Barlow discontinued
participation. Reportedly, newspaper reporters have been searching Mexico for FLDS compounds by air.
RE Eldorado: "There’ll be one or possibly two high priests who will live in the new community with one or more
of their wives and families. Their other families will remain in Colorado City/Hildale or move to Mexico,
and the men will spend much time commuting back and forth."
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635205928,00.html
"I believe Warren Jeffs ran the FLDS Church and the UEP as an organized crime-type setup," Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said Monday. "We just have to get the evidence to prove it." The attorney general said Jeffs and the FLDS Church are being looked at for "double books, cooking books, offshore accounts and fraud."
"We've been following closely what the special fiduciary is uncovering from records and so forth," he said. "It has been very informative, we'll say."
Ha! and that's just for starters! :clap:
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635205928,00.html
"another FLDS property in Mexico, near Cancun. On Jeffs' wanted poster, it lists a possible location as
Quintana Roo, Mexico.
However, Mary Batchelor with the pro-polygamy group Principle Voices said she has been to the area and
no FLDS members are there. She said there is a colony of polygamists there but they are members of the
LeBaron family. There's only about eight homes there. It's not a very big community and they would know
if there are any other fundamentalists there," she said
http://www.mormonfundamentalism.com/ChartLinks/FLDSChurch.htm
" the FLDS Church has additional developing communities near Benjamin Hills, Mexico (south of Nogales
in the state of Sonora) and the other near Encinada, Baja (south of Tijuana)"
http://utahbooks.com/Colorado_City_Polygamists_3.htm
Q. It appears that Warren Jeffs is settling up other areas for his group.
A. Everyone now knows that Warren Jeffs has purchased property near Eldorado, Texas, in Schleicher
County. Three apartment-type complexes have been erected on the 1300 acre site, and at least two
more complexes are under construction. Allen Steed, ordained a patriarch by Warren Jeffs, is the man
in charge of this compound, called Yearning For Zion (YFZ). His counselors are Roy Steed, Ernie Jessop,
and David Allred. It is rumored that some of Warren’s loyal followers did not want to go to Mexico,
so the Texas compound was established to accommodate them. There is evidence that Warren Jeffs has at
least two other developing compounds as well: one near Benjamin Hills, Mexico, south of Nogales in the
state of Sonora; the other
The FLDS has long been familiar with Mexico and there are other polygamy groups there. Back in the
1940s John Barlow tried to establish a colony in Mexico in cooperation with Dare LeBaron, father of Ervil
LeBaron. But when Dare insisted on being the priesthood leader of the entire group, Barlow discontinued
participation. Reportedly, newspaper reporters have been searching Mexico for FLDS compounds by air.
RE Eldorado: "There’ll be one or possibly two high priests who will live in the new community with one or more
of their wives and families. Their other families will remain in Colorado City/Hildale or move to Mexico,
and the men will spend much time commuting back and forth."
I have to wonder if more comes to light if Mexico will stand for it?
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 01:12 PM
I have to wonder if more comes to light if Mexico will stand for it?I've been trying to find out what Mexico's stance on polygamy is, and as far as I can tell it's not legal, but I'm not 100 percent certain. I haven't researched their laws on child abuse, incest and domestic violence yet, but I'd hope that if our govt. provides them with information that they'd check out those areas. I've also been trying to pin down just where the flds located in those areas.
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 01:13 PM
This really is the Taliban in America, we have to stop them. I hope the other states do something about this mess too, religious freedom is not about stealing, lying, pedophilia and cheating. All in the name of God, my butt.I agree with those sentiments!
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 06:34 PM
Seth Jeffs, FLDS member and younger brother of Warren Jeffs was arrested. He was a courier for money (over $100,000) and documents to "the Prophet."
The car was weaving and he was pulled over for suspicion of being drunk, he was soon arrested for his admission of accepting money for sex. He was charged with prostitution and solicitation.
Who'd asked him for sex? Why his Uncle, another FLDS member, who admitted to paying Seth $5,000 for homosexual acts.
http://voluntaryxchange.typepad.com/voluntaryxchange/polygamy_flds/page/2/
The FLDS sect is thought to frown on homosexuality somewhat more than other faiths.
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 06:39 PM
Nathaniel Allred, uncle to Seth Warren paid Seth $5,000 for sexual favors and the
car they were riding in was stopped by LE. Seth was charged with prostitution and
soliciting.
http://nvpolygamy.wordpress.com/category/mesquite/
NATHANIEL ALLRED
According to the Clark County Assessor, this house was purchased in
Oct. 2004, at a sale price of $600,000. The house is 4000 square
feet, has 4 bedrooms, 5 full bathrooms, and a pool. It butts up against
a golf course, and if it compares to his neighbors houses, Nathanael has
a great house. But where is Nathanael? Neighbors say they haven’t seen
his huge van parked in front for several weeks. Neighbors report that they
would
usually see Nathanael coming home after dark, and leaving before
sunrise, but recently, the house has been quiet.
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 06:42 PM
http://nvpolygamy.wordpress.com/category/dagrow-truss/
The City of Mesquite gave Dagrow Truss one of the strangest lease/purchase deals around: construct a building on undeveloped city-owned land in a technology park, then occupy the site for five years. The City agreed to pay Dagrow’s initial construction costs, meanwhile, the company would slowly purchase a 15-acre parcel right next door at the bargain price of only $9,500 an acre. (The same land now sells for $400,000 an acre.)
The lease agreement was signed by Guy Allred. Everything, with the exception of Dagrow’s labor, was billed to the city. In other words, Dagrow Truss was reimbursed the total construction fee–over $1.6 million in taxpayer funds.
But the deal isn’t good enough for Dagrow. In the past year, company managers have been fighting with the city to change a “no flip” clause in the lease agreement. The clause is designed to keep speculators from buying cheap city land and selling it quickly for a profit–it also allows the city to cherry-pick businesses that will stay in Mesquite. T
his clause prevents Dagrow from selling the land for 10 years, and so Guy Allred wants the lease changed–a request he formally made to Mesquite city council through his attorney. Since June, Mesquite and Dagrow lawyers have been passing letters back and forth, making offers and counter offers. In the end, the city council voted Tuesday to reject Dagrow’s request, so Allred won’t get his way.
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 06:46 PM
http://nvpolygamy.wordpress.com/category/dagrow-truss/
Dagrow Contracting has made a major change to their business license registration. Dagrow allowed their business license to go into default status, then they got a new business license under the name Dagrow Truss, Inc.
Interestingly enough, Dagrow also removed Guy Allred, Nephi Barlow, and Ben Barlow from their business license, replacing them with Lance Kerness. Mr. Kerness’s job is to register businesses and put himself on their officers list. Nevada corporate law allows someone unaffiliated with the business to be the registered agent and the officers. It does not force someone related to the business on the license. The reason many people register their businesses in Nevada is because of our loose corporate laws. It appears that Dagrow just caught up.
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 06:49 PM
http://nvpolygamy.wordpress.com/category/dagrow-truss/
I was in Mesquite today on some personal business. I had around a
half hour to kill so I figured “What the hell, let’s go see what’s going on
at Dagrow!” I know a good spot where you can park and look down onto
their yard, so I pulled up with my lights off and watched some guys
moving 2X4’s.
Out of nowhere, this car pulls up to the folks on the lot and points up
at me. They talk for a few seconds and the car speeds off towards the
road. At that point, I figured they were on their way to see me, and I
didn’t really feel like trouble so I split. I knew I didn’t have time to get
down the dead end road I was on before the car intercepted me, so
I just moved down the street, parked on the road, and watched as
they passed. I then moved off the dead end street, went up a hill
and parked again, waiting to see where they went. They pulled away
from my first spot slow and confused, then took off down the road
towards town.
These boys need to remember that they’re not in Colorado City anymore,
and people like me can sit and watch all we want.
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 07:11 PM
Guy Allred contracted with the city of Mesquite to lease 7 acres
of city owned land and to buy a further 15 acres (city owned).
http://nvpolygamy.wordpress.com/category/dagrow-truss/
Guy Allred acts as Dagrow’s Director, with Benjamin Barlow as
president, and Nephi Barlow acts as Secretary and Treasurer.
Mr. Allred promised around ten jobs paying about $14.00 per hour. The Mesquite City
Counsel quizzed Mr. Allred about hiring local labor. He said, with the exception
of managers, he would be hiring local labor. It is not known if he indeed hired local
labor at this time.
Guy Allred knows business. Most of his life, he has been running business with his
brother, David. That’s right, the man behind the purchase of the YFZ Ranch in
Eldorado, TX is brothers with Guy.
Guy is still involved in the FLDS, and one of the biggest supporters of Warren
Jeffs. It’s often speculated that FLDS members like Guy, business owners with
means, are the financial backers of Warren Jeff’s flight from justice.
Observed outside his house, several men coming and going, mostly in the pre-dawn
hours and at night. No women were ever seen outside, but it is known that at least
one woman was inside the house. On Christmas eve 2005, the house was seen
being unloaded. A few short days later, the house was on the selling block.
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 07:18 PM
http://nvpolygamy.wordpress.com/category/the-harkers/
It’s beautiful country. Rolling hills and pine trees dot the landscape. At
the bottom of one of the many valleys off of highway 93 sits a farm,
gone largely unnoticed for the past two years.
You get an idea of who is running the farm when you see the children.
Girls in the classic pioneer dress of the FLDS. The farm is operated by
the Harker family of Beryl, Utah. The Harkers are known members of
the FLDS. Harker trucks are seen in Colorado City, and the Harker name
dots the twin cities phonebook. Common Colorado City last names sit on
mailboxes; Jessop, Roundy, and of course, Harkers.
Utah private eye Sam Brower wonders where the money from this farm
goes. At over 3,000 acres of alfalfa, the farm is making someone a lot
of money. Last year, a 30,000 square foot potato barn went up on the
leased land. The building is striking. Huge white walls in the middle of
the desert. It’s also very curious. Outwardly, the building is a potato
barn, but with only around 300 acres growing potatoes, many are
asking what else is going on in this building.
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 07:38 PM
http://www.deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635186759,00.html
Over the past two years, families linked to Jeffs have quietly begun operating a large hay farm
in a remote valley 30 miles north of Pioche, Nev. Investigators are trying to figure out if farm
equipment, and even buildings, have been illegally moved there from the Utah-Arizona border.
A former insider says he believes the Nevada operation, known as Atlanta Farms, was launched
with the approval and direction of Jeffs. "It's all his doing," said Sterling Harker.
Until Jeffs ousted him from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
(FLDS), Harker was president of Harker Farms in Beryl, Utah. After he was kicked out, Harker's
close relatives expanded Harker Farms into Nevada.
Private investigator Sam Brower says those operating Atlanta Farms are longtime FLDS members
who stayed in the group after Jeffs rose to power. "They're zealously loyal to Warren Jeffs," Brower
said. "Brower says he's learned that much of the money made in Nevada goes to Jeffs' church.
"As long as hay stays high," Hafen said, "they have a real potential to make a lot of money. Into
the multimillions, I would dare venture, per year." Hafen worries that more polygamists might come
and use their cheap labor pool to outbid locals for construction jobs. "If they want to stay out there
and farm, that's one issue," Hafen said. "But if they want to come in and bring more people, I'll have
a real problem with that."
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 07:45 PM
http://nvpolygamy.wordpress.com/category/henderson/
The people living in this community have been tracked to a Henderson business park where they
meet up again and work late into the evening. This business park is where the Snugz plant
is located. Snugz produces promotional products such as lanyards.
Tracked to the neighborhood and businesses, Mr. Boyd Carlisle, Mr. Paul Roundy, and Mr.
Lawrence Barlow. Obviously, there are more people living here, but they haven’t been identified
yet. Also tracked to the neighborhood, a truck registered to David Allred, the man who set
up the YFZ Ranch.
Several women in pioneer style dress have been seen at the plant, as well as men wearing the
typical FLDS attire.
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 07:50 PM
http://nvpolygamy.wordpress.com/category/kelly-fischer/
Cozy Log Homes, a Colorado City prefab manufacturing business, was dismantled shortly after the
UEP was transferred out of Warren Jeffs control. The business had been operating strong in
Colorado City and provided jobs to many of its residents. After the transfer, its owner, Kelly
Fischer, decided it was time to move. His new place of residence, Mesquite. Cozy Log Homes LLC
began operations in Nevada on May 31st, 2005.
ATI Construction
Mr. Fischer is also the owner of ATI Construction, also a Mesquite, NV business. ATI. They offer
prefab manufacturing, concrete construction, and residential and small commercial construction.
ATI seems to be the construction arm of Cozy Log Homes. Cozy’s resident agent is Kelly Fischer.
It’s address, is the same office as the one ATI operates.
Despite all the praise a warrant for Mr. Fischers arrest was issued in July of 2005. Mr. Fischer, along
with 7 other men were indicted in a sweeping dragnet that included the prophet of the FLDS, Warren
Jeffs. Charges against the eight included sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit
sexual conduct with a minor. Mr. Fischer turned himself in to authorities and currently is awaiting trial
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 07:55 PM
http://voluntaryxchange.typepad.com/voluntaryxchange/2004/07/bank_for_polyga.html
This was a 99 year old bank from another part of Utah that operated a branch in the polygamist
community of Hilldale, Utah for the last 9 years.
My understanding is that the collapse involved the kiting of mortgage loans. Polygamists,
of necessity, build large dormitory like homes. They do most of the work themselves.
To finance this, they obtain construction loans: low interest short-term loans used by
builders to cover costs prior to sale of the building. The catch with construction loans is that you
generally can't live in the structure until the loan is paid off, usually by the sale of the finished
structure. This stipulation was apparently being treated loosely.
The scam worked like this: 1) obtain a construction loan to expand an existing home, 2) start
work, 3) quietly move family members into the unfinished parts of the structure, 4) plead distress
and claim that the work cannot be finished without a new loan, 5) use the new loan to pay off the
old loan, and return to step 2.
There are alternative stories floating around (in particular about overspending prior to the
predicted end of the world at the millenium)...
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 08:06 PM
http://voluntaryxchange.typepad.com/voluntaryxchange/2005/05/more_polygamist.html
More Polygamist Fraud
The skinny is that on May 24 Arizona authorities exercised a warrant on
the local school district headquarters, on May 26 Utah moved to have the sect's trust fund
assets frozen and on May 27 a judge approved. Apparently the school district has been
under investigation for about 2 years.
During the past year the district has had difficulty paying teachers.
All of the administrators and school board members are FLDS members, although
all FLDS children and teachers were withdrawn from the district a few years ago, and
current administrators are not supposed to mix with current teachers and students.
Utah moved to freeze the assets of the sect on Thursday. After providing evidence that there
was a liquidation going on, a judge approved this motion and scheduled a June 22 hearing on
removing all of the current trustees. The sect was not represented at the hearing after
having established a history of defaulting on judgements.
A limited release of information from the search warrant included these tidbits:
The district owns a Cessna for adminstrative use.
(**Molly says: No other school district in the state has a private plane.)
Around $900K passed through a miscellaneous spending account.
Around $3M in granted funds never made it to teachers.
The district provides equipment for private businesses of administrators.
There appears to be some featherbedding of employees who are FLDS members.
Non-employees have keys to the buildings while teachers do not.
And - this is rich - cans of beer in the offices of adminstrators.
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 08:08 PM
http://voluntaryxchange.typepad.com/voluntaryxchange/2005/05/more_polygamist.html
The superintendent of the district - whose 30 year tenure may be the longest of any school district superintendent in U.S. history - had no comment. Of course, he's a piker compared to the school board president - who has served in that position since 1960 - and who heads a board that contains no parents of students. All of this ties together to indicate racketeering.
Arizona has a funding rule that preserves funding levels for school districts with rapidly declining enrollments. The sect built schools for lease by the school district, and required non-refundable prepayment. Then the sect withdrew their students and teachers from the school district. The district then terminated the leases on the buildings, which were turned into private schools. The school district lost the money, but this was covered by the quirky Arizona law guaranteeing the district continued funding in spite of losing 2/3 of its students. The school district then built new buildings - with FLDS subcontractors - next to the old buildings, and with storerooms with external entrances on that side.
Edited to add:
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2006-04-13/news/authorities-swarm-polygamists/
Two longtime FLDS members of the Colorado City Unified School District governing board resigned from their posts on April 6. The resignations of Scott Jessop and Ralph Johnson come at the same time Arizona authorities are conducting criminal and civil investigations into the district that is more than $1 million in debt and was placed into receivership last winter.
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 08:12 PM
http://myeldorado.net/YFZ%20Pages/YFZ031705b.html
Federal court finds Jeffs in default in Fischer lawsuit
Warren Jeffs, the leader of a polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was found to be in default last Friday in a federal civil lawsuit that accused him of blacklisting a former church member. "the clerk of the court entered a certificate of default against Jeffs, indicating that he has failed to respond to a summons to appear. The ruling means Jeffs has forfeited the right to defend himself and could be held liable for damages in the case."
The certificate of default against Jeffs mans that Fischer can now request a hearing or submit an affidavit to argue the amount of monetary damages due him. Jeffs still has the legal right to dispute the amount but can no longer defend himself against the allegations in the suit.
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 08:14 PM
http://myeldorado.net/YFZ%20Pages/YFZ031705b.html
A similar certificate of default was issued late last year against the church’s governing bodies: the Corporation of the President of the FLDS Church and the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the FLDS Church. Forestwood still is contesting the suit.
Jeffs and the FLDS Church also are named as defendants in two lawsuits in Utah State Court. One was filed in July 2004 by Brent Jeffs accusing three of his uncles, including Warren Jeffs, of sexually assaulting him when he was a child.
A month later, a group of young men who call themselves the Lost Boys sued saying that they had been banished from the community. Brent Jeffs also has attempted to serve Warren Jeffs with the lawsuit through publication. The plaintiffs in both state lawsuits have requested default judgments.
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 08:17 PM
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:388481
Seth Steed Jeffs, younger brother of fugitive polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs – leader of the Mormon offshoot sect the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – was sentenced July 14 to three years probation and fined $2,500 for hindering law enforcement efforts to find his brother.
Prosecutors sought a three-month prison term for the younger Jeffs, but U.S. District Judge Robert E. Blackburn dismissed the possibility and instead actually had praise for Jeffs, who Blackburn reportedly said was trying to remove himself from the FLDS. "I must not and will not visit the sins of your fugitive brother on you," Blackburn said. Exactly what Jeffs did to convince Blackburn he is trying to distance himself from his FLDS family is unclear, but reportedly, Seth told the court that he knew "what I did was wrong as I was doing it, but I didn't realize the severity of what I was doing."
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 08:24 PM
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2006-04-13/news/authorities-swarm-polygamists/
Utah authorities initiated legal proceedings against Jeffs' top assistant in Hildale demanding the payment of delinquent property taxes or immediate evictions will result. Jeffs has ordered FLDS followers not to pay their property taxes. Authorities say they don't expect Warren Jeffs' brother, Lyle Jeffs, to pay the property taxes, setting up the potential for law enforcement forcibly evicting Lyle Jeffs from his home
Despite removal as a trustee and becoming a fugitive, Jeffs continues to exert control over the FLDS members living on UEP land. Last fall, he ordered FLDS members to refuse to pay Washington County and Mohave County property taxes. Only a handful of residents -- all former FLDS members -- have paid the taxes on their homes.
Fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs has vowed not to be taken alive and has ordered his 10,000 followers to refuse to cooperate with law enforcement.
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 08:29 PM
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2006-04-13/news/authorities-swarm-polygamists/
At least two prominent FLDS members have been detained by federal authorities and are being held at the Central Arizona Detention Center in Florence. James Allred, a high-ranking FLDS official, and Mica Barlow, a Colorado City police officer, are being held on civil contempt-of-court charges. Allred has played a key role in the collection of hundreds of thousands of dollars from FLDS members that have been used to assist Jeffs' fugitive flight.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/Apr/11/officials-keep-eye-on-sect-land-near-mancos/
Both properties were bought by David Allred. As Wisan gears up for his clash with FLDS leadership, federal authorities confirmed the arrests of James Allred and Mica Barlow. U.S. Marshal David Gonzales said both men were arrested on Friday, April 7, on civil contempt-of-court charges issued by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton. The arrests indicate that a federal grand jury investigation may be under way and that the men were charged after they refused to testify.
They apparently were following the orders of Warren Jeffs, who (referring to outside law enforcement) admonished his followers: "Tell them nothing."
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 08:35 PM
http://kob.com/article/stories/S428170.shtml?cat=518
*Photos - located on the Four Corners property visible from Chopper 4. There were also trucks, motorcycles, gardens -- but no people.
VIDEO report on compound
The land near Mancos, Colorado – about an hour north of Farmington – was quietly purchased in 2003 by a man named David Allred, the son-in-law of self proclaimed prophet Warren Jeffs.
really don’t think this is a retreat for the rank and file,” said Deputy County Assessor Scott Davis. “This is the guys on top.” Davis says the workers in Texas that have been the object of such attention “weren’t allowed to watch television, but here there’s a satellite dish attached to the house. Somebody gets to watch television.”
http://www.cortezjournal.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/08/news080419_HASH(0x3a6cf30).htm
Solar panels and generators are used to produce power at the compound.
The county assessor’s office has estimated the FLDS properties’ current value at $3.1 million. Records show the sect paid $1.4 million for the parcels, originally purchased as a corporate hunting retreat.
Lloyd McNeil, a trails coordinator for the U.S. Forest Service, routinely patrols Road 39.9 and connecting Forest Service roadways to assess trail damage and conduct gate checks. He said he hasn’t seen anything out of the ordinary going on at the FLDS properties. “They’re a strange outfit,” McNeil said Tuesday. “They must come and go at night. I just don’t see ’em a whole lot.”
McNeil said he’s been hoping to meet up with the FLDS landowners to discuss property lines and newly built fences that encroach on Forest Service land. “Their boundary lines aren’t all that right,” he said. “It’s secretive with them.”
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 08:39 PM
http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/bustupinbountiful/video.html
EXCELLENT VIDEO by Hana Gartner
http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/bustupinbountiful/photogallery/index.html
Photos of Jane Blackmore and her family
Winston Blackmore's family is so large they have to rent the local arena
when they want to go skating
LinasK
05-01-2008, 09:48 PM
I've been trying to find out what Mexico's stance on polygamy is, and as far as I can tell it's not legal, but I'm not 100 percent certain. I haven't researched their laws on child abuse, incest and domestic violence yet, but I'd hope that if our govt. provides them with information that they'd check out those areas. I've also been trying to pin down just where the flds located in those areas.
Ensenada, not spelled correctly in the other post, is about an hour south of Tijuana.
mollymalone
05-01-2008, 10:18 PM
http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy321.html
Gideon has had to accept that his real parents want little to do with him, and, the Glausers say, the discovery that his father, Dan Barlow, for months apparently drew Social Security funds in the teen's name.
Gideon's story surfaced last week during a town meeting on polygamy in St. George, when the Glausers publicly questioned how his 73-year-old father could draw money intended to help minor children. By all appearances, Dan Barlow lives comfortably and untroubled by his son's circumstances.
Gideon puts it this way: "Once you leave or you're kicked out, no one gives a damn about you."
Dan Barlow even inspected their home during a brief meeting, telling them "it seemed like a good opportunity for his son," says Neil Glauser, a developer. "He said he wasn't in a position to help." Or was he?
Drawing funds: In November, the Glausers had Gideon apply for a Medicaid card so he could get health and dental care. That's when they say a caseworker told them Dan Barlow was drawing Social Security funds in his son's name. Social Security allows retirement age people such as Dan Barlow to collect a stipend to help support children ages 16 or younger who still live at home. They're supposed to file reports explaining how the money is used.
In addition to Gideon, Dan Barlow has at least eight minor children living with their mothers in Colorado City. It's not known whether he has collected Social Security funds on their behalf.
"Basically, you should be getting paid because you have them in your care," said Delia Lasanta, the Denver-based regional communications director for the Social Security Administration. "If you are getting benefits as a father or mother for children in your care and you don't have them, yeah, that's fraud."
Gideon confronted his father. At first, Dan Barlow refused to hand over any money, saying he needed it to pay off credit cards, the Glausers say.
Finally he relented, and since November has given Gideon $200 a month.
In declining an interview, Dan Barlow said only that the Glausers were telling "lies." Arizona county and state agencies began looking into their allegations this week.
mollymalone
05-02-2008, 02:30 AM
Canadian women 'spilling' into Idaho
http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy331.html
polygamous community prompts study
"the wives of a religious group in Bountiful, B.C., are spilling out of Canada and into Idaho to apply for public assistance. The group is believed to be polygamous and associated with a similar group in Hildale, Utah, legislators said. The legislature is concerned the two groups may be trading child brides.
"The committee also will look into human-trafficking concerns involving child brides from Mexico taken to Canyon County. Southern Idaho legislators are concerned about reports in the Nampa area of men bringing home wives from other countries and then exploiting them for prostitution or slave labour.
It's human trafficking if people are "forced to remain but brought under false circumstances," said state Representative Donna Boe, who co-sponsored the study proposal. She said U.S. laws targeting human trafficking passed about five years ago and the states are being asked to pass complementary laws.
SewingDeb
05-02-2008, 10:18 AM
Molly,
That last link won't work for me.
mollymalone
05-02-2008, 12:58 PM
Molly,
That last link won't work for me.That was because I goofed. Thanks for letting me know. I've fixed it in that post.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy331.html
mollymalone
05-02-2008, 07:39 PM
http://www.deseretmorningnews.com/dn/view/1,5143,635208994,00.html
Wyler said his elderly father-in-law continues to hand over his entire Social Security check to Warren Jeffs "in the hope that he can get his wives and children and home back."
Despite being a fugitive, Jeffs exerts a great deal of control over these towns. Jeffs has reportedly told his followers not to pay the taxes.
SewingDeb
05-02-2008, 09:06 PM
That was because I goofed. Thanks for letting me know. I've fixed it in that post.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy331.html
Thanks Molly.
mollymalone
05-02-2008, 09:10 PM
Thanks Molly.Most welcome!
mysteriew
05-02-2008, 11:53 PM
Federal authorities have been probing allegations of crimes involving the Fundamentalist LDS Church and its leader Warren Jeffs for years — but have been unable to develop enough probable cause to launch a full-scale investigation or bring charges.
"Those cases where you hear rumor and innuendo about child brides and corruption, we have to have reasonable suspicion to open an investigation," U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman said Thursday. "Beyond that, we have to have probable cause to even get search warrants and grand jury subpoenas. That we have not been able to establish on numerous occasions."
In an extensive interview with the Deseret News on Thursday, Tolman and Tim Fuhrman, the special agent-in-charge of the Salt Lake City office of the FBI, detailed their efforts to investigate crimes within the FLDS Church. They also spoke against the need for a federal task force on polygamy-related crimes, despite a push by the U.S. Senate majority leader and the Utah and Arizona attorneys general.
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695275674,00.html
mollymalone
05-03-2008, 12:04 AM
Federal authorities have been probing allegations of crimes involving the Fundamentalist LDS Church and its leader Warren Jeffs for years — but have been unable to develop enough probable cause to launch a full-scale investigation or bring charges.
"Those cases where you hear rumor and innuendo about child brides and corruption, we have to have reasonable suspicion to open an investigation," U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman said Thursday. "Beyond that, we have to have probable cause to even get search warrants and grand jury subpoenas. That we have not been able to establish on numerous occasions."
In an extensive interview with the Deseret News on Thursday, Tolman and Tim Fuhrman, the special agent-in-charge of the Salt Lake City office of the FBI, detailed their efforts to investigate crimes within the FLDS Church. They also spoke against the need for a federal task force on polygamy-related crimes, despite a push by the U.S. Senate majority leader and the Utah and Arizona attorneys general.
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695275674,00.html
"Innuendo" "rumor" my foot!! Yes, they have to have reasonable suspicion but that's... :silenced: I won't say what I'm thinking. If the FBI can investigate it fine, but otherwise a federal task force might be what's needed to shake things up and get to the bottom of it.
Edited to add: They've got so many avenues they can follow on this sect for financial fraud alone.
mollymalone
05-03-2008, 12:06 AM
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/americas-most-wanted-the-man-with-eighty-wives-408507.html
set off to try to track Jeffs down for my programme The Man With 80 Wives. I spent a month criss-crossing the country questioning his followers and former followers, his brother and nephew and, most significantly, some of his most senior henchmen, known as "bishops". It was hard going - Jeffs's followers are openly hostile to outsiders. They tail your car, shout abuse. Nevertheless, I came close. I learnt that he had recently performed marriages near the communities I was investigating. And I managed to contact key members of Jeffs' hierarchy, the very people who would know his whereabouts and could well have been harbouring him.
But when I mentioned their names to Robert Foster, the FBI agent in charge of the investigation, he told me he had never heard of them. He had not heard about the marriages Jeffs had performed. And he had never been down to Jeffs' compound in Texas.That was in October, a year into the supposed manhunt. The FBI has changed gear since then. Agent Foster has been replaced by Agent John E Lewis, and this past few months, the net appears to finally be closing in on the FLDS.
mysteriew
05-03-2008, 12:27 AM
Brett Tolman says a federal task force would only deal with federal crimes.
“That would be fine, but the majority of crime that we are talking about here that may be involving the FLDS or any other community would be a state crime,” says U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman.
http://www.abc4.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=259a984d-c9e3-4a2c-918b-396495b7d6cb
He is really t'd off about this.
mysteriew
05-03-2008, 12:31 AM
You know, he says that most of the crimes are state crimes. But taking kids across borders for sex, federal. Kids from out of the country- federal. Theft from SS, federal. If there is any record of them drawing welfare benefits in one state while living in another that is federal. Any defense contract violations such as using underage kids- federal. And some of those have been proven in court on a limited basis according to the articles posted by MollyMalone in the court thread.
mollymalone
05-03-2008, 01:59 AM
You know, he says that most of the crimes are state crimes. But taking kids across borders for sex, federal. Kids from out of the country- federal. Theft from SS, federal. If there is any record of them drawing welfare benefits in one state while living in another that is federal. Any defense contract violations such as using underage kids- federal. And some of those have been proven in court on a limited basis according to the articles posted by MollyMalone in the court thread.I don't understand how he can say it's just state crimes. :rolleyes: Trafficking women across country borders is another one. Idaho is checking that out too. A lot of the crimes appear to fall under racketeering and qualify for RICO charges.
mysteriew
05-03-2008, 02:41 AM
I don't understand how he can say it's just state crimes. :rolleyes: Trafficking women across country borders is another one. Idaho is checking that out too. A lot of the crimes appear to fall under racketeering and qualify for RICO charges.
Oh, there is also the belief that they have taken the UEP money and assets across state lines, in violation of a court order.
I just thought of this. Right after the raid, the FBI obtained a search warrant, and it was sealed so we don't know what that contained. Utah FBI is also against the federal task force. Could it be possible that they already have something in the works and worry that the process of setting up a task force could delay whatever it is they have in the works?
mollymalone
05-03-2008, 02:41 AM
http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy855.html
Significant assets were sold by the FLDS church just prior to the land in Texas being purchased, including a property in Utah called the Steed Ranch, which sold for a little over $8 million, and a couple of other parcels in Apple Valley, (Utah)," Hoole said. "That money didn't stay in Short Creek. It's probably a very safe assumption that it went to Texas."
mollymalone
05-03-2008, 03:23 AM
PHOTOS at the link
http://www.google.com/search?q=flds+floyd+county&btnG=Search&hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1
June 11 2007 -Samuel Fischer’s Westwood Products currently employs about 20 people in Hildale Utah to make custom cabinets for high-end homes. He says he will rename it Techsun when it moves to Texas. The Warren Jeffs’ follower plans to move his Utah cabinet making company, two wives and twenty four children to west Texas and local residents are worried others will follow.
In Lockney, people worry that Fischer is paving the way for thousands of Jeffs’ followers now living in Utah and Arizona. Fisher already has a contract on the 176,000-square-foot industrial complex that once produced farm implements under the Tye Company banner. Now he is shopping for housing. He has closed on one house in nearby Plainview (Hale County) and has contracts on three others there. He is reported to be checking out the migrant labor camp twelve miles away in Floydada. The camp, which was originally subsidized by the U.S. government, contains accommodations for 156 family units in fourteen buildings.
“He wouldn’t be looking at houses if he didn’t have some others coming,” she said. "He didn’t tell us anything,” Mathis said. “He evaded some (questions) and even the ones he answered I didn’t feel he was being truthful.”I have no idea how many families will move to the area, but I do know that this business will not bring new jobs for local people-not unless you happen to be a member of one of the FLDS families", Gilroy said.
mollymalone
05-03-2008, 03:27 AM
http://blogs.sltrib.com/plurallife/2007/05/samuel-fischer-and-uep.htm
May 16, 2007- He had closed that morning on three homes in Plainview, about 30 miles west. Nothing against Lockney, he said, but he was able to find a home that better fit the needs of his family in Plainview. The other two homes will be for workers who are likely to relocate with him.
http://thehopeorg.org/texas_FCHB_Fischer_speaks_to_Lockney_community.htm l
"One reason for coming here," said Fischer, "is that I couldn't buy 5 acres of commercial ground with nothing on it, in Utah, for the same amount as the Tye Company. Fischer is purportedly buying the Tye Company for $750,000. He also purchased 3 homes. One in Edmundson, one in Halfway, and another outside of Plainview.
Fischer says he and his family will live in one house and "key people", who will be moving here, will live in the others. He said he did not know who those people would be.
Fischer said he bought those homes because there were no houses in Lockney that were large enough to fit his needs. He also said his son has 5 horses and he needed acreage for the horses. Fischer said he was the sole proprietor and that he had "no partners". He said none of the money was "coming from the church", and that no one directed him to do this.
mollymalone
05-03-2008, 03:38 AM
http://www.hesperianbeacon.com/051707news.htm
Warren Jeffs closest followers (remember that Fischer said Jeffs is his spiritual leader) value the truth so dearly that they seldom use it. Mr. Fischer desperately wanted to portray himself as a fine upstanding businessman imbued with high moral ethics and strong family values...." he stood aside and did nothing when Warren Jeffs excommunicated his father from the FLDS Church then reassigned his mothers.....I would have liked very much for Mr. Fischer to explain how this translates to family values. ....."I would have liked for him to explain why he did nothing as some of his sons were kicked out of the church, and the town in which they grew up. I would also like to ask him why even to this day he prevents them from seeing his own mother, their grandmother, who we are told is dying of cancer.
Mr. Fischer told us he is being forced out of Hildale, Utah because the state is taking over the United Effort Plan Trust. Wisan has been busy in recent months transforming the UEP so that individual members may own the homes they built on UEP land. Samuel Fischer has been given this same opportunity..... "It is Fischer who balked at the deal, not the State of Utah."
Mr. Fischer kept emphasizing that he intends to hire local people at his Lockney plant. That may very well be the case. I hope it is. However, we have been told here in Eldorado that the YFZ Ranch truly was intended as a hunting retreat but that the group's intentions changed once they owned the land.
mollymalone
05-03-2008, 08:27 PM
http://www.janabommersbach.com/pm-fea-july05.htm
Gone is any semblance of private ownership. All property and all businesses are owned and controlled through a "trust" that is totally controlled by Jeffs. Bistline writes that Jeffs even demanded that people sign over their individual 401-K retirement plans to him.
mollymalone
05-03-2008, 08:33 PM
http://www.google.com/search?q=Warren+Jeffs+wives&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&start=160&sa=N
In 1942, members signed over ownership of their homes to a trust established by the church, which now has tens of millions of dollars in land and in businesses spread across the West and into Canada.
mollymalone
05-03-2008, 08:35 PM
http://www.p2pconsortium.com/index.php?showtopic=1190
f the 9,000 members of a polygamous Mormon sect in south-west Utah felt comfortable borrowing from their local bank like there was no tomorrow, it was because, in their minds, that was precisely the case. The world, they had been told, was coming to an end.
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gladly used high-interest funds to finance suspect business ventures. There was the water melon farm on which not a single water melon was planted, and plans to convert old military barracks into homes fell through when they found lead paint and asbestos inside. Now, though, the tap has been turned off. After years of obliging the sect, the local Bank of Ephraim has been forced to shut down after state regulators found it could no longer handle all the loans it had extended. It was only after the crackdown in June that the bank's president, Keith Church, discovered the truth.
Several years ago, the sect, led by a recluse named Warren Jeffs, rumoured to have 70 wives, made members take an oath to drain the bank as fast as possible because doomsday, just around the corner, would see the world and its financial system collapse.
mollymalone
05-03-2008, 08:53 PM
Oh, there is also the belief that they have taken the UEP money and assets across state lines, in violation of a court order.
I just thought of this. Right after the raid, the FBI obtained a search warrant, and it was sealed so we don't know what that contained. Utah FBI is also against the federal task force. Could it be possible that they already have something in the works and worry that the process of setting up a task force could delay whatever it is they have in the works? That could be or it could be it's just a turf /credit for busts type of thing. I'm hoping that the FBI and the states are working hard on this on their own.
However, since in the past there's been such a blind eye....there's been such a struggle over the years getting anyone in officialdom to do anything, and there's been such a mess with coverups with FLDS being in the LE there, a task force might be needed. The task force, being made up of people not from those states wouldn't have the same sensitivities that the locals have about not stepping on certain toes.
mollymalone
05-03-2008, 09:04 PM
http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy282.html
The math was simple: Bad loans plus embezzlement brought down a
small-town bank.
Last June's closing of the Bank of Ephraim made instant losers of 50 people and groups ranging from turkey farmers to the local Chevrolet dealer and state college. Together they had $3.6 million in uninsured deposits.
Stockholders who lost millions more insisted they had investors lined up to
rescue the bank, but were rebuffed by regulators, who sold the deposits to a
bank unwittingly instrumental in its looting, the Far West Bank of Provo, Utah.
But in this farming community in one of Utah poorest counties, where many are struggling to hold their own, resentment runs deep against regulators who shut down the 99-year-old Bank of Ephraim. They complain that government examiners, fooled by phony bank statements, never detected the fraud. They accuse state regulators of tolerating risky loans to
the fundamentalist religious sect halfway down the state. The loans reached $18 million, 90 percent of the Bank of Ephraim's portfolio, said former bank President Keith Church.
Afterward, Church learned from business owners that they had been instructed by Rulon Jeffs, former leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to "go out and borrow as much money as they could" because civilization was about to collapse. State Banking Supervisor Jim Thomas said the Bank of Ephraim was cleaning its
balance sheet of the bad loans when embezzlement delivered the knockout punch.
mollymalone
05-03-2008, 09:06 PM
http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy282.html
The math was simple: Bad loans plus embezzlement brought down a
small-town bank. Last June's closing of the Bank of Ephraim made instant losers of 50 people and groups ranging from turkey farmers to the local Chevrolet dealer and state college. Together they had $3.6 million in uninsured deposits.
But in this farming community in one of Utah poorest counties, where many are struggling to hold their own, resentment runs deep against regulators who shut down the 99-year-old Bank of Ephraim. They complain that government examiners, fooled by phony bank statements, never detected the fraud. They accuse state regulators of tolerating risky loans to the fundamentalist religious sect halfway down the state. The loans reached $18 million, 90 percent of the Bank of Ephraim's portfolio, said former bank President Keith Church.
Afterward, Church learned from business owners that they had been instructed by Rulon Jeffs, former leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to "go out and borrow as much money as they could" because civilization was about to collapse. State Banking Supervisor Jim Thomas said the Bank of Ephraim was cleaning its balance sheet of the bad loans when embezzlement delivered the knockout punch.
mollymalone
05-03-2008, 09:16 PM
"All that, combined with one last piece of information, was enough to convince Success editor Randy Mankin that the tip was legitimate. The final tidbit of information involved trucks bearing the company name Z-Trans coming and going from the South Dakota property.
Z-Trans, Inc. is a corporation registered in St. George, Utah. The company's director and registered agent is Robert Dockstader Allred, another of Warren Jeffs' loyal followers.
Z-Trans trucks are routinely seen entering and leaving the YFZ Ranch here in Schleicher County.
mollymalone
05-03-2008, 09:22 PM
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_8925455
The Delta County Assessor's Office said the land, at 1253 3350 Road near Crawford, belongs to Neph Barlow of Henderson, Nev. At least one building is under construction on the property. The property is surrounded by a tall privacy fence.
mollymalone
05-03-2008, 09:24 PM
http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:IMr8eaz756oJ:www.beyondborders.org/Publications/BB%2520newsletter%2520Winter%252005%2520Final.pdf+ Warren+Jeffs+wives&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=167&gl=us&ie=UTF-8
Low ranking Bountiful members pay extremely hightithes to the church, live on church land, and usually own almost no property of their own. All their assets are compiled into the United Effort Plan (UEP), which is a trust presided over by Jeffs and his faithfuls worth over $150 million.
Recently, the prophet has ominously been urging members to max out their credit cards because they'll, "...be lifted up to heaven..." before the bills are due.
Peculiar Petunia
05-04-2008, 06:29 PM
http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:IMr8eaz756oJ:www.beyondborders.org/Publications/BB%2520newsletter%2520Winter%252005%2520Final.pdf+ Warren+Jeffs+wives&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=167&gl=us&ie=UTF-8
...snip...
Recently, the prophet has ominously been urging members to max out their credit cards because they'll, "...be lifted up to heaven..." before the bills are due.
Somehow I'm picturing a brand new Citibank facility in El Dorado, all white and shiny. Looks like the safes and vaults are already in place.
mollymalone
05-04-2008, 09:29 PM
Somehow I'm picturing a brand new Citibank facility in El Dorado, all white and shiny. Looks like the safes and vaults are already in place.Hmm, you might be right about that!!
Other than documents, what else would go into vaults? Money!
mollymalone
05-04-2008, 09:31 PM
http://www.sltrib.com/polygamy/ci_5778176?source=rss
Musser also was serving as a courier for Jeffs, ferrying envelopes of cash and personal correspondence and "things like that" to Utah, Wyoming and other locales.
mollymalone
05-04-2008, 10:13 PM
While Musser was in hiding with Warren Jeff's wives and daughters, he lived in or traveled to various locations linked with the FLDS. There was a house in Williamsburg, Colorado, Westcliffe, Colorado, and Florence Colorado. He delivered envelopes of cash to locations in Utah, WYOMING, and IDAHO.
When his wife and child were removed by Warren Jeffs, Musser tried to find her. In the article at the link it's clear that the FLDS has set up safe houses in various states.
http://www.sltrib.com/polygamy/ci_5778176?source=rss
" scoured Colorado from Florence to Fort Collins, visiting old safe houses"
mollymalone
05-09-2008, 09:56 PM
http://www.fundamentalforums.com/showthread.php?t=48360
The state not only ignored the crimes for decades, it helped facilitate them by allowing the FLDS polygamists to set up a town government, a public school district and a police department that have received tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds despite the fact that polygamy violates Arizona's Constitution. The FLDS has had an iron grip on the local governments, because it has been impossible to get elected or hired to a taxpayer-funded post without the church's blessing.
The fundamentalist community has also benefited immensely from state health-care services for the poor and indigent by receiving more than $12 million a year in state assistance in Arizona to pay for health-insurance premiums.
mollymalone
05-09-2008, 10:50 PM
http://www.childrenshealthcare.org/polygamous.htm
In 2005, Colorado City’s tiny fire department received $350,000 in Homeland Security funds—the state’s third largest Homeland Security grant.
FlowerChild
05-10-2008, 02:32 AM
http://www.fundamentalforums.com/showthread.php?t=48360
The state not only ignored the crimes for decades, it helped facilitate them by allowing the FLDS polygamists to set up a town government, a public school district and a police department that have received tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds despite the fact that polygamy violates Arizona's Constitution. The FLDS has had an iron grip on the local governments, because it has been impossible to get elected or hired to a taxpayer-funded post without the church's blessing.
The fundamentalist community has also benefited immensely from state health-care services for the poor and indigent by receiving more than $12 million a year in state assistance in Arizona to pay for health-insurance premiums.
Warren Jeffs and his flunkies are running around from compound to compound with literally MILLIONS of dollars - BAGS FULL OF CASH and yet the FLDS members are recieving MILLIONS of dollars in state and federal aid - for housing, healthcare, food etc - all because the MOTHERS say they are the single unwed mother of MULTIPLE children.
The FLDS (by way of the UEP) brings in MILLIONS a year in money from federal and state contracts, owns hundreds of successful labor intensive businesses, owns thousands of acres in valuable property and every business, home and twig is in the name of some shadow company - never an individual. So on paper they are all below the poverty line. We KNOW most of the men have at least 3 "celestial wives" and each of those "in the eyes of God, not the state" wives can take in as much as $50-60K a year in aid and subsidies on their LARGE families. These women even receive HOUSING assistance - they take money from the state and pay it to the UEP in "rent" each month. They get support for children who are not living in their homes and almost ALL of the children over age 8 WORK daily at one of the FLDS companies - construction, farming, assembly, factory - the list goes on and on. The men (and the UEP) get the MONEY while WE (the taxpayer) support their 20-30-40+ offspring and their 3-5-9 wives. It's a GREAT system if you're a MAN and on Warren Jeff's good side.
As a SOLUTION, I think:
---We, as TAXPAYERS should DEMAND that state and federal contracts are only awarded to thoroughly vetted, legitimate companies with legitimate owners and NO CHILD LABOR.---
---We, as TAXPAYERS, should DEMAND that state and federal assistance - from WIC to food stamps to section 8 to health-care to welfare GO ONLY to people who have NO MEANS OF SUPPORT - including "celestial" spouses and "sister wives". EVERY CHILD must be accounted for, PHYSICALLY at least once a month and in random visits. The children MUST attend an accredited PUBLIC school until they turn 18 or graduate from high school, They MUST have health check-ups every year. Housing MUST be inspected every 6 months - in a random visit.---
---We, as TAXPAYERS, should DEMAND that CPS be informed of EVERY pregnant girl under age 17. This is a MINOR and since the minor child is pregnant (possibly implying parental neglect or statutory RAPE), CPS would have the right to at least QUESTION the circumstances and make an un-announced visit and INTERVIEW the girl ALONE. These girls should be required to be IN SCHOOL, be required to receive approved pre-natal care, be required to attend birthing and if they are keeping the baby, attend parenting classes held at a place chosen by CPS. After the child is born, again CPS should be monitoring. If the mother is keeping the child then CPS should be involved for AT LEAST 18 months - to support the mother and to PROTECT her baby and give a GOOD START in life. A pregnant 12-13-14 or 15 year old SHOULD GET OUR ATTENTION! We should be doing MORE to support these young mothers BEFORE they have the baby - and AFTER. WE (the TAXPAYER) can and should try to STOP the cycle of teenage pregnancy for ALL GIRLS, regardless of their lifestyle, religion or background.---
If the FLDS had experienced ANY SMALL restrictions - even been asked just a question or two, or have been required to follow LAWS already on the books MOST of the YFZ Ranch situation could have been averted years ago. Everyone has been so focused on "not persecuting" the FLDS that they have failed to see clearly that the REAL issues with the FLDS that make us all sick are NOT RELIGIOUS AT ALL, but instead AGAINST THE LAW. The FLDS tries to hide CRIMINAL ACTS behind religion (which has worked for 100 years) but FINALLY they are being FORCED to justify ABUSE and FRAUD and CRIMINAL ACTS as having even the slightest connection to "acts of FAITH".
We don't need to create new legislation, attack plural marriage or do anything radical or different. NO-ONE cares about the sex lives or religion of CONSENTING ADULTS! NO-ONE cares if the kids watch TV are dressed in conservative clothes or pray to Warren Jeffs. THE FLDS can CONTINUE to do every single ritual and act of faith they have done for 100 years - every one which is not CHILD ABUSE, FRAUDULENT or CRIMINAL. This is about LIES AND ABUSE, ABUSE of the SYSTEM, ABUSE of WOMAN, ABUSE of CHILDREN....and the LIES that come from those ILLEGAL acts. ALL the WE have to do is put some teeth into the laws we have and INSIST that our Atty's General, LE, CPS and judges UPHOLD THOSE LAWS!
Take away the forced isolation,money and the lies and the control - add a little attention, oversight and public/LE scrutiny and the FLDS may continue to exist, but only as a polygamous fringe church full of aging members talking about the "good ol' days". Like black mold, (and most ugly, nasty things that will make you sick), the FLDS only survives hidden away in the dark spreading its sickness with unseen spores that infect and slowly kill anyone who keeps breathing the poisoned air. Just like mold, if you deal with the FLDS by ripping out the walls that hide and shelter it, expose it to air and light, treat the poison air, and bleach everything it has touched clean, the blackness can no longer grow and be spread. You don't have to destroy the whole house (FLDS) to solve the problem...just really clean house, open it up to the bright sun, rip out the infected/ruined parts and replace them and continue to control and monitor the environment and you haven't over-reacted, focused on the STYLE of the house or made the house different - but the thing that was making everyone sick - even killing them slowly - is gone.
My Opinion
Peculiar Petunia
05-10-2008, 11:29 AM
Wonderful, Flower Child! Love the mold analogy.
mollymalone
05-10-2008, 04:17 PM
Mold is a good analogy!
The laws should be enforced, the lack of enforcement and oversight has resulted in the proliferation of abuse, physical, mental and financial. I have nothing against large families, but those parents choosing to have them need to be financially able and willing to support them. In this sect, if there's a child that has medical problems I have no problem with the states helping out, as long as they extend the same help to others not in the sect.
But the willful and stubborn refusal to abstain from a practice which is documented as causing a debilitating disease to children born of those close unions lessens my sympathy for the parents of those children in this sect.
I find it appalling when: underage marriages are the sole driving force behind this sect's continuance; when young boys without the social, mental health or educational skills are tossed onto the street corners and told they are "dead" to their families; when women can be plunked into a mental health facility and released only when she has "atoned" for her behaviour and apologized to her husband and it's his, or the church's say so that she can be released; when for decades people have been pleading with the authorities to intervene on behalf of those abused and are told "we haven't the resources" or it's "a religious matter and we can't intervene"; when millions of taxpayer dollars are squandered on privileged lifestyles of the sect's hiearchy and expands their control.
I have no problem with the city streets being paved in CC or Hilldale, or a fire dept. installed, or the myriad of things that the rest of us enjoy within our own cities. The problem arises when the representatives of those cities are ONLY drawn from within that sect, and the only persons who staff the fire dept, the police, the judiciary etc, are ONLY from within the sect, and all others are discouraged from living or working in those cities; or when the fire dept. receives a large inappropriate grant from Homeland Security; when contracts are awarded to a company and when it's apparent that child labor laws are being broken nothing is done.
Even with outside oversight, not much will change as long as those in positions of authority remain those from within the sect.
mollymalone
05-10-2008, 10:56 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/us/08raid.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1
The stress rippling out from Texas is also compounding economic woes. A power plant built under the leadership of Mr. Jeffs’s predecessor and father, Rulon Jeffs, in 1997 — with $21.4 million in municipal bonds — has been in default for years as customers for the power, including the city of St. George, walked away and fuel costs soared. The power station was needed, the Jeffs men said, in anticipation of a prophesied collapse of American society in the year 2000 that would have left the F.L.D.S. humming along in its rural fastness with the lights still on.
Now, the bondholders are going to court, and last week, the utility officers began considering a 25 percent rate increase, on top of what is already some of the most expensive electricity in the West, in an effort to stave off financial disaster. The City Council in Hildale, Utah, sister community to Colorado City across the border, is to vote on the proposal later this month. “We are in a financial cash-flow crisis,” said Jerry Barlow, the utility’s manager. “We will not be able to pay for the power without some kind of adjustment.”
Pepper
05-11-2008, 01:15 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/us/08raid.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1
The stress rippling out from Texas is also compounding economic woes. A power plant built under the leadership of Mr. Jeffs’s predecessor and father, Rulon Jeffs, in 1997 — with $21.4 million in municipal bonds — has been in default for years as customers for the power, including the city of St. George, walked away and fuel costs soared. The power station was needed, the Jeffs men said, in anticipation of a prophesied collapse of American society in the year 2000 that would have left the F.L.D.S. humming along in its rural fastness with the lights still on.
Now, the bondholders are going to court, and last week, the utility officers began considering a 25 percent rate increase, on top of what is already some of the most expensive electricity in the West, in an effort to stave off financial disaster. The City Council in Hildale, Utah, sister community to Colorado City across the border, is to vote on the proposal later this month. “We are in a financial cash-flow crisis,” said Jerry Barlow, the utility’s manager. “We will not be able to pay for the power without some kind of adjustment.”
Simple solution. Take it out of the UEP. The State of Utah has control of the UEP, so let the trust pay for it. It is, after all, their financial obligation!
mollymalone
05-11-2008, 11:20 PM
Simple solution. Take it out of the UEP. The State of Utah has control of the UEP, so let the trust pay for it. It is, after all, their financial obligation!Whether they do or don't it looks to me like the flds members of CC and Hilldale will have to begin paying bills for their electricity, and paying more for it than other cities. Ironic isn't it?
mollymalone
05-11-2008, 11:22 PM
http://www.star-telegram.com/state_news/story/585189.html
"If the allegations of polygamy and children abuse are proven true, then the proper authorities should terminate their government contracts and tax breaks," said U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, a Waco Democrat whose district stretches from Hood and Johnson counties southward past College Station. U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Flower Mound, said he too is concerned about the situation. "These recent discoveries raise many serious questions," said Burgess, whose district includes most of Denton County and part of Fort Worth. "I hope a full and thorough investigation is conducted and completed as soon as possible." U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, had already said she's surprised that the government is doing business with a sect. "It makes me very uneasy," she said late last week. "It needs to be investigated without a doubt."
mollymalone
05-11-2008, 11:38 PM
This was posted at a Salt Lake Tribune comments section by Jay Beswick of FOR KIDS SAKE, a child prevention group who works with former members of flds like Flora Jessop.
Posted Apr 18, 2008 by Jay Beswick
"Renegade members had "meth" labs, as in William Black now on the Lam and on the FBI's Most Wanted list. William took 2 Stubbs girls at 13 & 14 as sister or plural wives."
"Louis Barlow in the 1980's was selling survival kits that included assault rifles, since they belief insurrection was coming, that wasn't a comforting thought."
mollymalone
05-11-2008, 11:46 PM
http://www.rickross.com/reference/polygamy/polygamy346.html
May 10 2005
"A man of considerable wealth and influence, Blackmore is in charge of the land and the homes, deciding who lives where. He has business interests in British Columbia, Alberta, and in Idaho with companies that employ most of the young men raised in Bountiful." "The children are educated in the church's school, but it only offers first through seventh grades.
After that, boys are sent to work for the Blackmore Company, usually performing heavy manual labor."
"The group is in the midst of a major power struggle, and followers of Winston Blackmore are moving into north Idaho to be closer to him. NewsChannel 7 found proof the fundamentalists are quietly buying up Boundary County land and building a community that your tax dollars may be going to support."
mollymalone
05-14-2008, 10:45 PM
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0606/S00059.htm
The Airport - possible illicit activities
mollymalone
05-14-2008, 10:49 PM
Snugz USA reportedly was changed to Eagle Craft and relocated to Henderson, Nevada.
mollymalone
05-14-2008, 10:56 PM
http://texaspolygamy.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_archive.html
POST By MIB (Jay Beswick) Canada Properties In Default?
The report is interesting reading and unnerving in light of interest from those
in financial hardship seeking position and status as new UEP trustee's. The
personal financial dealings that include non payment of taxes, to a point of
forfeit, to over seeing a trust already shakey might just concern the judge,
courts and appointed fiduciary.
POST BY LACSD 9/24/2005 7:55 AM :
THE DECLINE OF A $6-MILLION POLYGAMIST:
"A year ago, Winston Blackmore's net assets -- personal and corporate -- were $6 million"..... "Forfeited to the B.C. government for unpaid taxes $1.22 million worth of land and property in Creston where he was operating Kootenay Wood Preservers.
Foreclosed: The B.C. Supreme Court has given Blackmore, his brother and two of his half-brothers until Oct. 25 to repay the $1.03 million they owed HSBC in July. But that amount keeps on growing with interest calculated at $202.75 per day.
Foreclosed: The Alberta Community Credit Union went to court in March in Medicine Hat to gain title to a piece of property for which Blackmore had failed to pay $5,153 owing on the mortgage.
Money owing: Blackmore owes the B.C. government $4,583 in 2005 taxes and penalties on six rural properties assessed at $837,900.
Transferred: Blackmore's J.R. Blackmore & Sons Ltd. transferred lucrative logging contracts with Tembec Industries after Petro-Canada won a court order in 2004 against Blackmore for failing to pay the bills to Prairie Holdings Ltd. Blackmore had been president of that company until he transferred control to his sons Jake Blackmore, Hyrum Blackmore and Brigham Shane Palmer along with Prairie Holdings debt.
Sold or transferred: $1.97-million worth of property including 664 acres of farmland, a grain elevator in Creston, grain storage bins, two duplexes, two mobile homes in and near Bountiful and a single-family home.
mollymalone
05-15-2008, 10:33 AM
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_9261073
Another Colorado colony of the polygamy-practicing Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has taken root, this one at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, 50 miles west of Pueblo. Custer County Assessor J.D. Henrich confirmed that a senior member of the sect, Lee Steed, bought a $350,000 house there in November 2006 and two more parcels in rural, largely vacant subdivisions last December. The adjoining parcels, each just more than 40 acres, cost a total of $428,000, according to county tax rolls. The land is near the tiny twin towns of Westcliffe and Silver Cliff, which have a combined population of 800 to 1,000 people. "We keep hearing about a fourth parcel, but no deed has been recorded yet," Henrich said.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/may/14/polygamous-sect-buying-land-in-2-colo-counties/
Members of a polygamous sect have been quietly buying up property in Custer and Fremont counties and settling in, according to the Custer County sheriff. "We have reason to believe that they are the same organization that was in Texas that has been in the news," said Custer County Sheriff Fred Jobe. In the past two years, a senior aide to Jeffs has purchased three properties in Custer County, near the town of Westcliffe. Jobe said that one property is northeast of West cliffe, where there is a good-size community of FLDS members. A house on a piece of property to the west of the town is also being remodeled.
EDITED TO ADD: The location in Fremont County, Colorado is Cotopaxi.
mollymalone
05-15-2008, 09:16 PM
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,356156,00.html
"Who funded it? We're investigating. That's for dang sure," said Jeff Shields, a court-appointed lawyer studying the sect's finances. Shields, an attorney on the trust case, said there has never been a full accounting of the trust assets because church leaders refused to turn over documents or answer questions. Even the identities of the trustees are a mystery; more than half are listed as "unnamed" in court documents. The court-appointed lawyers overseeing the trust have subpoenaed any financial records state troopers may have seized in the April 3 raid on the Texas ranch."We have good cause to believe there's something relevant to what we're doing up here," Shields said."
"Parker called such links "fantasies" and denied any trust money was used to fund the ranch."
golfmom
05-16-2008, 07:53 AM
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700226417,00.html
SAN ANGELO, Texas — Subpoenas have been served on authorities here demanding documents related to the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch and how it was purchased.
The man appointed by the courts to take charge of the FLDS Church's real-estate holdings arm wants to see records seized by law enforcement during the raid on the compound. Bruce Wisan, the special fiduciary of the United Effort Plan Trust, had his lawyers serve subpoenas on the Tom Green County District Attorney's Office.
mollymalone
05-16-2008, 10:59 PM
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700226417,00.html
SAN ANGELO, Texas — Subpoenas have been served on authorities here demanding documents related to the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch and how it was purchased.
The man appointed by the courts to take charge of the FLDS Church's real-estate holdings arm wants to see records seized by law enforcement during the raid on the compound. Bruce Wisan, the special fiduciary of the United Effort Plan Trust, had his lawyers serve subpoenas on the Tom Green County District Attorney's Office.
The UEP Trust, which is property rich but cash poor, has about $54,000 in the bank.
So Warren Jeffs and his cohorts have in a short number of years depleted the account drastically.
Pepper
05-16-2008, 11:21 PM
The UEP Trust, which is property rich but cash poor, has about $54,000 in the bank.
So Warren Jeffs and his cohorts have in a short number of years depleted the account drastically.
So sell off some property! Don't think they'll be needing that acreage in Colorado, for starters. If they (State of Utah receiver) don't want to sell it, then mortgage it.
mollymalone
05-18-2008, 03:38 AM
So sell off some property! Don't think they'll be needing that acreage in Colorado, for starters. If they (State of Utah receiver) don't want to sell it, then mortgage it.Wisan is selling off some property, and he's seeking documents from Texas. If he can prove that YFZ, or for that matter, the other compounds, were built using funds from the UEP it's a good bet he can go after the properties. That's the only way he'll be able to make the UEP solvent and to meet monetary damages from lawsuits by former members.
mollymalone
05-18-2008, 03:41 AM
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2008/05/16/news/latest_news/7bf8e0f5df136fa08625744b0064009a.txt
Under the name United Land Management LLC, the sect started buying land near Pringle in October 2003 and has since put up several large dorm-like buildings. The total assessed value of the 140 acres tops $4.5 million, according to county records. Appraisal records say the housing encompasses 28,095 square feet among five buildings, which contain a total of at least 38 bedrooms. "Their buildings are immaculate. There's also a guard tower visible above the trees. "I think it's to keep those girls in," Hickstein said.
State law requires people to report births or deaths at home, but no such report has ever been filed from the ranch, said Frances Larsen, Custer County register of deeds. Tim Creal, Custer School District superintendent, said six children from the ranch received a public school exemption for the current school year so they could be taught at home.
mollymalone
05-18-2008, 03:47 AM
Lee Steed is a top aide to Warren Jeffs and helped Jeffs elude law enforcement in 2005 & 2006.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/may/15/town-wary-polygamists/
Custer County Assessor J.D. Henrich this morning confirmed that Lee A. Steed bought a 5,800-square-foot house, on 35 acres of land, for $350,000 on Nov. 20, 2006; and had bought 42-acre and 43-acre vacant parcels last Dec. 17 for a combined $428,900. Steed last year also purchased a six-bedroom home on 35 acres valued at $359,000 and a 2,600-square-foot three-bedroom house on 40 acres in neighboring Fremont County, according to assessor records. The larger home is in Cotopaxi and the smaller one in Florence.
Kathleen Kerr, owner of the home next door to the house bought by Steed in Westcliffe in Custer County, told HateWatch that ATVs patrol the property and that she hears occasional gunfire. "It's just not quiet and peaceful there anymore," Kerr said. Custer County Commissioner Dick Downey said his county has a culture of farming and ranching and the people there are interested in preserving traditional values values that include only one wife per husband. "We're monitoring the situation," Downey said. "It's a concern. The main thing for us is that we want to make sure all the zoning rules and laws are obeyed.
mollymalone
05-18-2008, 03:51 AM
http://www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=8333204
News Video showing some of the property
According to Custer County Sheriff Fred Jobe and the Fremont County Assessor's Office, Anthony Steed bought land as recently as last December. That's when he purchased 40 acres near Florence. That summer he acquired 35 acres in the Texas Creek area near Cotopaxi. Jobe says Steed also bought two 80-acre plots near Westcliffe, adding to 35 acres he already owned. Jobe believes Steed is a member of the FLDS. Officials in Fremont County were unable or unavailable Thursday to discuss the size of the FLDS community there. Jobe says the Westcliffe community is growing, with plenty of building going on. Jobe says men occasionally come in town, but women and children rarely are seen.
mollymalone
05-18-2008, 04:17 AM
http://www.custercountynews.com/printable.php?article=792&category=1&issue_id=50
"Nephi Barlow — owner of the ranch in Delta County"
The Colorado Division of Water Resources had records on file that indicated there could be as many as three households planned for the 35-acre ranch.
Other properties near the Westcliff area in Custer County, Colo., and the Cañon City area in Fremont County, Colo., are being investigated because they are suspected to be FLDS-owned and occupied. An unofficial source said Lee Steed, who is Warren Jeffs’ brother, owns the properties.
Another unofficial source, who is close to the group, said there are more compounds in the Portland, Ore., area, as well as the Oklahoma Panhandle.
Molly says: I've read comments from fromer members regarding locations such Casper Wyoming and Cody Wyoming, and a reported name of Jerold Williams being the owner of the Cody compound.
mysteriew
05-21-2008, 12:07 PM
Texas lawmaker wants FLDS to pay for the raid, child care
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9332171
Pepper
05-21-2008, 12:08 PM
I agree! The UEP has lots of money. Make 'em pay and maybe it will break them up.
mysteriew
05-21-2008, 12:25 PM
I don't really think they will find a way to go after them for the inital costs. But I do look for at least one and probably both parents to be charged child support. I also think they will review the churches and the individual's tax records extensively.
About the only way they will be able to go after them for repayment is if they determine some organization crime- like under the drug statutes they can go after any assets of the dealer and confiscate any assets used in the crime.
mollymalone
05-21-2008, 06:19 PM
Rick Ross stated on a Fox interview that Warren Jeffs withdrew large sums from the UEP and shortly afterwards began building the FLDS compound and temple at Eldorado, Tx. If this is true, and documents support this, then Wisan can go to court and quiet possibly gain control over that entire property. Those who remain at that "ranch" could find themselves paying rent unless the entire property was sold (which is quite likely) in order to recoup the funds that belong back in the UEP Trust.
I suspect that these parents are going to be assessed child support and if CPS can determine that certain women are indeed on welfare etc, in other states, and the father is determined, then those states could start recouping some of their money back from those fathers. In order for the women to remain on or continue with welfare those fellas are going to end up in the same boat. As for those "men" who have left the area in order to avoid any court proceedings of whatever kind, that's another issue altogether.
Since there may have been massive fraud with tax evasion and welfare, it's going to be an interesting call to see who gets the properties in Tx or other states, the feds or the states or the UEP.
Gosh Molly, you sure put a lot of time and effort in this.
Thank you,
Sly
Trino
05-24-2008, 05:55 PM
Some FLDS parents complained because their children were placed in separate facilities, and they had to drive many miles to visit each one. Where did they get the money (and vehicles) to drive these distances. Probably, too, they needed to stay in motels. Again, if they gave their checks to FLDS, who gave the parents money?
mollymalone
07-22-2008, 10:20 PM
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700245096,00.html
Lawyers for the United Effort Plan Trust served the subpoenas on Snow, Christensen & Martineau, seeking to compel the law firm into handing over documents. The firm is resisting, arguing attorney-client privilege.
"It is impossible to characterize legal advice given to FLDS leadership regarding the UEP Trust as having been given to them in any particular capacity," attorney Rod Parker wrote in documents filed last week in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court. "The UEP Trust was regarded as a part of the religious institution of the Church, and was managed as a religious institution and a tool used in the Church's mission in providing for the spiritual and temporal needs of its members. The Special Fiduciary's characterization of the UEP Trust as an entity with a separate existence from the mission of the Church is not consistent with SC&M's representation of the Church."
Snow, Christensen & Martineau acted as the FLDS Church's legal counsel from 1987-2004. It helped incorporate the church and the UEP Trust
Ciara
07-22-2008, 10:31 PM
Molly you are a Star for finding all these links and posting them:blowkiss:
mollymalone
07-22-2008, 10:39 PM
Molly you are a Star for finding all these links and posting them:blowkiss::laugh:
:wave: Thank you :blowkiss: but there are others who are just as deserving, if not more, of the title Star for providing links and info!
Ciara
07-22-2008, 10:41 PM
I Thank them too:) Its all good reading:)
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