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Fred Karger, the California-based director of MormonTips, on Thursday planned to ask the Internal Revenue Service, state Attorney General, state Department of Taxation, city Ethics Commission and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to investigate Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints operations on Oahu, its Polynesian Cultural Center and specific church leaders for 25 allegations he said could challenge the church’s tax-exempt status.
Hawaii LDS leaders referred all questions to the Polynesian Cultural Center, which did not immediately respond.
At a press conference at the Ala Moana Hotel, Karger played the fourth installment of a cartoon parody of “South Park” called “Salt Park,” which features four boys who were flown from Utah to the PCC, where they are recruited to join the church by cartoon versions of Donny and Marie Osmond and various European adults in aloha attire.
In his 283-page complaint, Karger calls the PCC “a 42 acre theme park, shopping mall and theaters” that brings in $100 million annually. He wants the IRS to investigate the LDS for tax fraud regarding the PCC.
Karger also accuses Brigham Young University-Hawaii and the LDS of using a lobbyist on behalf of the PCC who has not declared himself as a lobbyist.
Specifically, Karger says the PCC failed to report employment, income and tax liability property; owes million in excise state taxes; “illegally” uses cultural and educational exchange visas for “Polynesian students at BYU-H”; uses “illegal tactics to coerce and control their foreign employees”; “underpays staff members and illegally garnishes their salaries”; and is “involved in political campaigning, including using its funds to fight the freedom to marry for LGBTQ Hawaiians.”
MormonTips is a project of RightsEqualRights, which is also challenging LDS operations in Florida and New York.
Karger said some of the information used for his complaint about LDS operations in Hawaii came from tips since 2017 to Mormon Tips.com, which includes all four installments of “Salt Park.”
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