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The Vermilion Cliffs tower over the twin towns of Colorado City, AZ and Hildale, UT. Most of the property in the two towns, formerly know as Short Creek, is owned by the United Effort Plan Trust, a charitable trust that manages property for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. A motion filed in Utah court last Thursday would strip FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs of control of the UEP and appoint new trustees to oversee its assets.

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Follow the Money

Utah attorneys target Warren Jeffs’ assets

FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs stands to lose financial control of his polygamous empire if a motion filed last Thursday before a Utah judge is granted.

The motion asks Utah State Judge Stephen Roth to remove Jeffs as head of United Effort Plan, a charitable trust that controls almost all of the church’s financial assets in the twin towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah.

The motion is perhaps the most significant development in the FLDS story since Jeffs’ followers began acquiring property in Schleicher County in the autumn of 2003. It also represents the most serious threat to Jeffs’ absolute control over the lives of his followers since he ascended to leadership of the church in 2002.

“What you’re seeing is the beginning of a process, but it’s a significant beginning,” said Roger Hoole, the attorney who filed the motion late Thursday in Utah’s 3rd District Court. Hoole represents seven defendants in two lawsuits brought against Jeffs, the FLDS church and the UEP Trust.

Jeffs’ legal problems are all in civil court and don’t represent criminal charges, but Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and his Arizona counterpart Terry Goddard are paying close attention and have signaled their support for Hoole’s motion. Shurtleff filed papers last week notifying Judge Roth that he has no objection to Hoole’s request. Attorney General Goddard’s spokesperson Andrea M. Esquer told the Success on Tuesday that Arizona would file similar papers later this week.

In addition to removing Jeffs control over the UEP Trust, Hoole is asking the court to appoint new trustees, including Winston K. Blackmore of Bountiful, British Columbia, the man who until recently served as bishop over the FLDS flock in Bountiful. Blackmore was reportedly excommunicated from the church by Jeffs after he came to power in 2002.

Other proposed trustees include Lee Van Dam, a real estate expert who would act as receiver and special fiduciary for the court. James Zitting, who is believed to remain loyal to Warren Jeffs, would remain as trustee to insure the interests of Jeffs followers are protected.

Roger Williams, a resident of Centennial Park, would serve as trustee and represent the interests of FLDS followers who broke with the church when Jeffs’ father, Rulon Jeffs, took control of the church in the late 1980’s.

Other proposed trustees are: Spencer Johnson and John Nielsen, both former FLDS members who were excommunicated by Warren Jeffs. Others may be appointed by the court UEP Trust organizational documents allow for as many as nine trustees.

While the Utah legal action won’t immediately affect Jeffs’ far-flung holdings in Colorado and Texas, the implication is clear. If new trustees are appointed to head the UEP Trust, efforts will soon follow to prove that UEP assets were diverted to purchase property near Mancos, CO and here in Schleicher County where Jeffs’ followers are busy constructing a new community, complete with a massive temple, on the YFZ Ranch.

In order to get such proof, a financial forensic specialist would be needed and sources close to the attorneys in this case tell the Success that it is likely that Judge Roth will be encouraged to appoint just such an expert to follow the complex money trail.

Money is power and the UEP Trust reportedly has plenty of it — as much as $120 million by some accounts. The trust also controls almost all land and housing in and around Colorado City/Hildale, giving Jeffs incredible power of the day-to-day lives an estimated 8,000 FLDS members who live there.

Since assuming control of the FLDS Church, and the UEP Trust, Jeffs has “disfellowshiped” or excommunicated numbers of the sect’s top officials, including many lieutentants who were once loyal to Jeffs and his father. Ordering the men out of their homes and off UEP land, Jeffs even reassigned their multiple wives to other men.

The exact whereabouts of Warren Jeffs is unknown. He hasn’t been seen in public since the summer of 2004 when he was named in two lawsuits accusing him of sexually assaulting his underage nephew, covering other assaults by fellow church leaders, and conspiring to expel young men from the church because they might compete for young brides he wanted to give to his most loyal followers.

Shortly af ter the lawsuits were filed, one of Jeffs’ closed allies, David Allred, purchased 1,691 acres four miles north of Eldorado, property that has come to be known as the YFZ Ranch.

Authorities in Utah and Arizona believe that Jeffs has fled to Texas and that he is hiding out on the YFZ Ranch in hopes of avoiding being served with civil complaints.

Judge Roth has yet to schedule a hearing on Hoole’s motion to remove Jeffs and appoint new trustees. Still, the mere fact that is was filed, means that Jeffs or his attorney must appear in court to argue against the motion if he is to stand any chance of remaining in control of the UEP Trust.

In addition to the civil lawsuits and the motion to remove him as head of the trust, Jeffs faces the very real possibility of criminal charges. Neither Shurtleff nor Goddard will openly discuss the matter, but the Success has learned that both AG offices have investigators delving into a numerous allegations of financial wrongdoing and sexual molestations addressed in the civil lawsuits.

Meanwhile back at the Ranch

	Land and buildings at the YFZ Ranch, including the FLDS temple under construction there, could be placed in jeopardy by a motion filed last week in a Utah district court. The motion seeks to remove FLDS Prophet Warren Jeffs as head of the UEP Trust and appoint new trustees to oversee the plan’s assets.

Closer to home, work began last week on additional home sites near the FLDS temple on the YFZ Ranch and rock cutting operations have resumed. Supplies continue to stream through the ranch gates as the pace of construction escalates. Work on the temple roof continues where the Success believes some type of ornamental spire or tower will be constructed.

At the temple site, workmen are reportedly excavating adjacent to the temple walls, apparently in preparation for the pouring of a concrete rock ledge as a base for the limestone blocks. It is believed that the laying of cut limestone stacked near the temple site will begin very soon.

TCEQ environmental inspectors paid a return visit to the YFZ Ranch last week where excavation began recently to construct a sewer plant on the northeast corner of the ranch.

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The Eldorado Success invites Warren Jeffs and/or other leaders of the FLDS church to comment on this or any other story surrounding the FLDS and the YFZ Ranch.