Whistleblower the church did not try
David A. Nielsen
b. c. 1978
Birth year: Derived from 'David Nielsen, 41' on 17 Dec 2019, which brackets birth to Dec 1977 - Dec 1978. Deseret News, 17 Dec 2019
2 topics · 5 dated events
Their part in each topic
Church Finances, Tithing, and the Transparency Question
Ensign Peak whistleblower
A senior portfolio manager at Ensign Peak Advisors for roughly nine years, Nielsen filed a confidential complaint received by the IRS on 21 November 2019 alleging the Church had amassed about $100 billion in accounts intended for charitable purposes. His twin brother Lars supplied a 74-page synopsis to reporters. Nielsen gave a sworn declaration in the Huntsman case in 2021, a 90-page memorandum to the Senate Finance Committee in January 2023, and a '60 Minutes' interview in May 2023, in which he called the fund 'really a clandestine hedge fund.'
Speaking Truth to Power
Whistleblower the church did not try
A senior portfolio manager at Ensign Peak Advisors who filed an IRS whistleblower complaint about the church's investment reserve and its accounting, made public in December 2019. The SEC fined Ensign Peak and the church in 2023. Nielsen is in this topic as a boundary case and a deliberate one: he told the truth about the institution at the greatest possible cost to it, and no council was ever called. What the church disciplines and what it merely dislikes are not the same list.
In the timeline
5 events across 2 topics, chronological. Only events this person was actually part of — present at, responsible for, or the subject of — not every event where the name comes up.
The Nielsen complaint becomes publichinge
A confidential whistleblower complaint from David A. Nielsen, a former Ensign Peak portfolio manager, was received by the IRS on 21 November 2019, alleging the Church had amassed about $100 billion in accounts intended for charitable purposes and had used tax-exempt donations to prop up two businesses. Religion Unplugged and the Washington Post published on 16 and 17 December. The First Presidency responded the same day that the vast majority of funds are used immediately, that a portion is 'methodically safeguarded,' and that 'The Church complies with all applicable law governing our donations, investments, taxes, and reserves.'
A whistleblower the church did not try
David A. Nielsen, a senior portfolio manager at Ensign Peak Advisors, filed an IRS complaint about the church's investment reserve; it became public in December 2019, and the SEC fined Ensign Peak and the church in 2023. No disciplinary council was ever called. The contrast with the councils in this file is the point: what an institution punishes and what it merely dislikes are different lists.
James Huntsman sues for the return of his tithing
Huntsman filed in the Central District of California seeking more than $5 million in tithing, alleging the Church misrepresented that tithing was not used for commercial projects while spending, he alleged, $1.4 billion on City Creek and $594 million on the Beneficial Life bailout. Nielsen supplied a sworn declaration that Ensign Peak staff 'referred to and revered all funds of EPA as "tithing" money, regardless of whether they were referring to principal or earnings.' Judge Stephen V. Wilson granted the Church summary judgment on 14 September 2021.
Nielsen takes his allegations to the Senate
Nielsen submitted a 90-page memorandum to the Senate Finance Committee and its Subcommittee on Taxes and IRS Oversight, alleging false statements, systematic accounting fraud and private inurement. He asserted that Ensign Peak 'failed to engage in any charitable activities for 22 years,' that 'it is clear that EPA has never been tax-exempt,' and that it had avoided more than $20 billion in taxes.
'60 Minutes' and the Church's answer
Nielsen broke a three-year public silence on CBS, saying 'I thought I was going to work for a charity' and calling Ensign Peak 'really a clandestine hedge fund — once the money went in, it didn't go out.' W. Christopher Waddell of the Presiding Bishopric was interviewed and disputed the characterization. The Church issued a release calling the segment 'unfortunate' and based on 'unfounded allegations by a former employee who has a different view on how the church should manage its resources.'
Appears alongside
People who share the most dated events with David A. Nielsen.
This page is generated from the same topic records as the rest of the database, so a correction made once shows up here too. All key players · How this is built