| Mancos properties are question mark in polygamous sect accounting |
|
By Tom Vaughan The Mancos Times |
|
The Mancos Valley continues to play a small part in an international legal struggle over the assets of a polygamous religious sect.
Warren Jeffs, leader and self-proclaimed Prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a polygamous sect that bought two 60-acre parcels in the Mancos Valley in July 2003 and October 2004, has failed to respond to notifications that he is a defendant in two civil suits filed in Utah state courts. On Thursday, Feb. 17, attorneys for the plaintiffs in those suits filed a memorandum requesting the court to appoint a receiver and a substitute board of trustees to oversee the assets of the United Effort Plan trust, the fiscal arm of the FLDS. The FLDS properties in Mancos and in Schleicher County, Texas, may be among the factors weighed in the upcoming battle for control of UEP assets; both represent large FLDS investments that are not carried in the name of the UEP and may represent illegal conversion of trust assets by Jeffs. FLDS fires counsel Complicating the process is the fact that Jeffs is presently without legal representation. His long-time attorney, Rodney R. Parker of Snow, Christensen & Martineau, Salt Lake City, Utah, filed a request in Utah state court in December, asking to be allowed to withdraw as FLDS counsel in the Brent Jeffs and "Lost Boys" suits (Brent Jeffs has accused Warren Jeffs and others of sexually molesting him; six young men — the Lost Boys — claim in a separate suit that Warren Jeffs and others caused them to be excommunicated from the FLDS in order to "perpetuate Warren Jeffs' and the FLDS Church’s increasingly abusive and illegal practice of polygamy, which requires women to outnumber men," as stated in the Feb. 17 memorandum). In his request, Parker cited fundamental differences in strategy, as well as indicating that Jeffs had already fired his firm. At this point, despite repeated attempts to contact Jeffs, including legal notices in newspapers in Cortez; Creston, B.C.; Cedar City, Utah, and Eldorado, Texas, the FLDS leader has not come forward, nor has he retained other legal representation. As a result, the court could order a default judgment against the UEP Trust. Latest legal actions A "Memorandum in response to motions to require notice" was filed Feb. 17 by Roger Hoole, of Hoole & King, L.C., Salt Lake City, Utah. The "response" is to a motion filed by Parker on Dec. 16, asking that notice of a possible default judgment be made to anyone, anywhere, who might be affected by that judgment. Hoole characterizes Parker’s motion as an attempt "to delay the Plaintiffs taking default judgments against the Trust as is their right." Part of Hoole’s argument to the court is that, by failing to come forward in response to the suits or to engage counsel in his defense as the trustee managing the UEP assets, Warren Jeffs has failed in his responsibilities to defend the trust, its assets and its beneficiaries. Therefore, they argue, the court needs to assume supervision of the trust. On Thursday, Feb. 24, Roger Hoole’s brother and co-counsel in the cases, Greg Hoole, told The Mancos Times by phone that the goal of the suits is not to break up the UEP. The plaintiffs’ attorneys argue in the Feb. 17 memorandum that "the Plaintiffs share (Parker’s) interest in protecting everyone’s interest in the Trust." Hoole proposes the interests of their clients and other beneficiaries of the UEP Trust would be best served by securing the assets of the UEP and placing them under the court’s supervision with new management. Hoole also took pains to emphasize to the Times that polygamy itself is not an issue in these cases. The plaintiffs are not contesting whether plural marriage is legal; they are seeking protection under the terms of the UEP Trust, a legal entity established in 1942 to conduct the business of the FLDS. Though created as a charitable trust, the Utah Supreme Court ruled in 1998 that the UEP is a private trust. A 1998 revision of the Declaration of Trust, once again proclaiming the UEP to be a charitable trust, has not been tested in court. Citing an affidavit given by Winston Blackmore (a UEP trustee and the Bishop of the Bountiful, British Columbia, FLDS community until he was ousted by Warren Jeffs’ father, Prophet Rulon Jeffs, in May 2002), "The Trustees are ... in disarray. For example, Warren Jeffs has been in hiding for many months and appears unwilling to respond to civil process. Fred Jessop has been missing for many months and may be dead. Leroy Jeffs is in hiding. Truman Barlow has been excommunicated and removed from the FLDS community. I have removed myself from active participation in the FLDS community and have probably also been excommunicated. Only James Zitting, who lives in the Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona area remains in good standing in the FLDS community." To cure this alleged "disarray," the Feb. 17 memorandum asks the court to require all of the above-named UEP trustees to appear before the court and provide an accounting of UEP assets, a list of persons affected by the trust, evidence that UEP administration "is benefitting not just a select few" and answers to plaintiffs’ questions about past administration of UEP assets. Service by publication is requested, in addition to mail notification. If that fails, the plaintiffs are asking that Lee Van Dam ("an expert in the area of real estate" who has previously served in this capacity) be appointed "receiver/special fiduciary" to "assume full responsibility for the administration of the Trust and stop the wasting of its assets." When "the Court determines that order and viability have been returned to the Trust," its administration would be turned over to substitute trustees. Those proposed as substitute trustees include:
The stakes are high While known FLDS holdings are not in the Boeing, Viacom or Enron ballpark, the stakes are still substantial. Daphne Bramham, columnist for The Vancouver (B.C.) Sun, told the Times Monday that the total value of the real and personal property assets on the Colorado City and Hildale assessors’ rolls in the name of the UEP adds up to $75,151,393. Add to this the value of UEP assets in British Columbia (estimated by Bramham at more than $5 million), Washington and Idaho (and possibly Mexico), and the total value may exceed $100 million. While there is no way of accessing the non-property assets of the faction controlled by Warren Jeffs, this Feb. 20 excerpt from an e-mail by Blackmore to the Times gives an idea of the magnitude: "Add it up. If 1,000 families contribute 1,000 dollars and 100 businesses contribute 8,000 dollars, that’s quite a lot. If they do that 12-15 times a year, then you can see where the money is coming from." Where the money is going is a major concern of Jeffs’ challengers. Since July 10, 2003, Jeffs or his son-in-law, David Steed Allred, have purchased a 60-acre parcel off CR 39 in the Mancos Valley; a 1,691-acre ranch (November 2003) in Schleicher County, Texas, and another 60-acre property in the Mancos Valley (October 8, 2004), also on CR 39. Round-the-clock construction took place on the first Mancos property immediately following purchase, and similar construction activity has continued for more than a year at the ranch near Eldorado, Texas. None of those properties have been listed in the name of the UEP. No FLDS revenue-generating activities have been identified in Colorado or in Texas. Mancos improvements While construction at the Texas compound — at least 12 major buildings exceeding 20,000 square feet each, plus a temple — dwarfs the Mancos improvements, the Schleicher County assessor has only recently visited the compound and no assessed values are available at press time. The property at 15252 CR 39 is listed on the Montezuma County Assessor’s rolls, however, and the assessment represents more than a million dollars of improvements, most of it accomplished in a few short months in 2003. At the time of purchase by Allred in 2003, the land was assessed to have an actual value of $2,260, with improvements valued at $142,500 — a 2,144-square foot one-story house with two bedrooms and two baths, plus a barn with an open understory. Today, following a 2004 visit by an assessor, the land is still valued at $2,260, but the improvements have increased tenfold to a value of $1,479,470. In addition to the original house, there are now three more residential structures, totaling 16 bedrooms and 16 baths. The barn now comprises 4,200 square feet of living space, with four bedrooms and four baths. A new, two-story residence with a lathed-log exterior north and east of the original house contains four bedrooms and four baths in 4,800 square feet of floor space (1,500 each in the walk-out basement, first floor and second floor, plus 300 square feet of deck space). The largest improvement is on a slope near the south edge of the property, obscured from view from CR 39 by pines and terrain. This residence also has a lathed-log exterior, which was probably, according to Blackmore, contributed in almost pre-fab form by FLDS-owned sawmills in southeast British Columbia. This six-bedroom, six-bath house has 7,800 square feet of floor space, including 2,400-square-foot walk-out basement, first floor and second floor, plus 600 square feet of wooden decking. The improvements on the second property Allred purchased (in the name of Sherwood Management Group, Inc.) in the Mancos Valley, at 15976 CR 39, are unchanged from the time of purchase, and there appears to be no improvement work going on at this time. The $725,000 purchase price, however, far exceeded the $156,900 actual value of land and improvements carried on the assessor’s rolls. The two CR 39 properties purchased by Allred are separated by a third 60-acre parcel, owned by James and Mandy Bramble of Tucson, Ariz. Mandy Bramble, contacted by the Times by phone on Feb. 21, when asked whether Allred or others had made attempts to consolidate the FLDS property by offering to buy their property, Mandy Bramble said, "It’s not for sale." She went on to say she and her husband have no intention of selling the property and they haven’t been contacted by Allred; they enjoy their property in the woods as a place to get away from the city. The Times’ invitation to visit with David Allred, Warren Jeffs or anyone else associated with the FLDS church or the properties purchased by Allred in the Mancos Valley still stands. |
|
The Mancos Times Originally published March 2, 2005 |
| Back |
| For more information email: |