Tithing and ill-gotten gains

Val Southwick, the CEO of VesCor who is in prison for swindling investors out of more than $180 million. The scheme took in many people  in Utah, and many of the victims and at least some of the perpetrators are members of the Mormon Church. Last week the Salt Lake Tribune reported that Southwick had paid over $200,000 to the LDS Church in tithing, and that the LDS Church was now returning that money to be part of the restitution to the victims.

U.S. District Court filings show Val Southwick paid The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints $202,761.74 between 2001 and 2006.

In 2008, the LDS Church Corporation of the Presidency agreed to return the money as part of a Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement action.

I don't imagine $200,000 will go very far when the total amount stolen is more than $180,000 million, but it's better than nothing. I note that $200,000 in 10% tithing would indicate an income of about $2 million over the course of seven years. It seems very unlikely that Southwick only kept $2 million of the $180 million for himself, so it sounds like he was lying to his church as well as his investors. What a guy.


The Salt Lake Tribune article noted that LDS Church spokesperson Scott Trotter says the LDS Church has a policy of not profiting from alleged ill-gotten gains. I find it interesting that the Church rejects donations derived from allegedly ill-gotten gains. To some degree this policy delegates authority to law enforcement officers and prosecutors. In this case, the initial determination of wrong-doing was made by a prosecutor or SEC officer, not the LDS Church. But the policy seems like a prudent one to me, both in terms of practicality and perception.