Polygamist church's late payment rejected in Utah

A court-appointed accountant has rejected a payment from a polygamous church sect whose trust was taken over by the courts because of alleged mismanagement by their former leader, Warren Jeffs.

"The payment was made under protest. I don't think we can accept it," accountant Bruce Wisan said Monday.

The $192,600 in delinquent fees is half of what is owed by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for six months of occupancy fees on homes in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.

The homes in the twin towns and a church enclave in Bountiful, British Columbia, are held in the $114 million United Effort Plan Trust. The Utah courts took control of the UEP in 2005 after the allegations of mismanagement by Jeffs.

Jeffs is now serving a prison sentence on a 2007 conviction of accomplice to rape for his role in an arranged marriage involving a then-14-year-old follower in Utah. He is awaiting trial on criminal charges in Arizona and Texas also related to underage marriages.

The FLDS has been negotiating a settlement with the attorneys general of Utah and Arizona and with Wisan, who oversees the trust, to regain control of the UEP's church land.

Third District Judge Denise Lindberg ordered the FLDS to pay the fees last fall. She imposed the Monday deadline last week and said if the FLDS failed to pay, she would consider allowing church land to be sold.

"As a peaceful people, we believe that settlement is the best way to resolve differences," FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop said in a statement.

He acknowledged the payment was made under protest.

All residents of trust homes are required by the court to pay a $100 monthly occupancy fee to Wisan. The FLDS paid the fees for two months last year, but claim that Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff brokered a deal with Wisan in February to forgive the fees during settlement talks and only collect the proceeds of milk sales from a church dairy in Beryl.

According to the FLDS, Wisan chose to collect some $100,000 in milk money instead of more than $40,000 in monthly occupancy fees. But Wisan denies making such a deal.

Shurtleff was traveling Monday and unavailable for comment.

Shurtleff's spokesman, Paul Murphy, said by paying "under protest" the FLDS is preserving their right to challenge in court whether the payment should have ever been made. An assistant attorney general will ask the judge for direction on Tuesday, he said.

The other half of the $385,200 total fees is due June 15 — the same day the parties are to submit a settlement proposal to the judge.

In 2005, the states of Utah and Arizona sought control of the trust, contending that Jeffs, the church's leader, had used its communal assets for his own benefit.

The FLDS follow the early teachings of Joseph Smith Jr., founder of the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including the practice of polygamy, which is believed to bring glorification in heaven. The mainstream Mormon church abandoned the practice in 1890 as a condition of Utah's statehood.

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On the Net:

The United Effort Plan Trust: http://www.ueptrust.com

Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: http://www.fldstruth.org