Canadian court to rule on assets
 Bountiful
 
By Irwin Loy
24 hours
 
A tumultuous legal battle in the U.S. over control of the assets of a controversial polygamous sect has landed in the Canadian court system.

A U.S. accountant says school officials in the polygamous community in Bountiful are trying to liquidate the assets of a government-funded school in order to support their fugitive spiritual leader.

Bruce Wisan, a state-appointed Utah accountant who oversees a $100-million trust belonging to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), has filed a writ in the B.C. Supreme Court urging it to dissolve the company that now runs the school and place it in his trust.

The directors of the Bountiful Elementary-Secondary School Society (BESS) are loyal to FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet now wanted by the FBI for evading charges including sexual conduct with a minor.

"The BESS is a property that's worth a bunch of money and they just want to sell it," Wisan told 24 hours in an interview. "They're either going to give it to Warren Jeffs or they're going to use it to start another community somewhere."

At a larger FLDS community in Colorado City, Arizona, the school district has come under state receivership, after the district's FLDS officials were believed to have mismanaged state funds to the tune of a $1.5 million debt.

Here in B.C., the Bountiful school receives grants from the Ministry of Education. These funds would total more than $650,000, based on the school's student population the previous year of 166.

Some have questioned the school's fundamentalist teachings and high drop-out rate - only 44 per cent of Grade 11 students attended Grade 12 last year, according to the provincial stats.

"Alarm bells should be going off when you see [details] like that," said BC Civil Liberties Association policy director Michael Vonn. But the Ministry has investigated allegations, said spokewoman Corinna Fillion.

"The ministry is aware of the concerns... and takes them seriously," Fillion said. "However, the ministry can't refuse funding unless an independent school fails to comply with the Independent School Act." The FLDS directors behind BESS are listed as James Zitting of Colorado City, and locals Merrill Palmer, MacRae Oler and James Oler. Reached by phone, a polite James Oler, reported to be Bountiful's FLDS leader, declined to answer questions.

"You can ask but I have no comment," Oler said.
 
24hrs.ca
Originally published April 27, 2006
 
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