Judges Dismiss Mormon Tithing Fraud Case - James Huntsman | Ep. 1988

The Huntsman Tithing Fraud Case: What the Court Ruled and Why It Still Matters

A unanimous panel of Ninth Circuit judges dismissed James Huntsman's tithing fraud lawsuit against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on February 1, 2025. For anyone tracking the Mormon tithing fraud case closely, the ruling was a legal defeat for Huntsman but not the end of the conversation. The court's reasoning actually raises harder questions about religious accountability than the lawsuit itself ever did.

Huntsman, a member of one of Utah's most prominent LDS families, alleged that he was defrauded out of millions in tithing dollars. His central claim was that church leaders made misleading statements about how tithing funds would be used, specifically regarding the construction of the City Creek Center mall in Salt Lake City.

Background: City Creek, Gordon B. Hinckley, and a 2003 Promise

The lawsuit traces its origins to a statement made by then-church president Gordon B. Hinckley at the April 2003 General Conference. Hinckley assured members that tithing funds would not be used to finance the City Creek mall project. He opened the statement by saying he wished to give "the entire church the assurance," framing it as a formal declaration to the membership.

The trouble came years later when whistleblower David Nielsen, a former Ensign Peak Advisors insider, alleged that tithing money had in fact been funneled into the City Creek development. Nielsen's disclosures, which became public around late 2019, formed the factual backbone of Huntsman's legal theory.