Mormon Church Defeats Fraud Class Action Over Donor Spending

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints avoided a proposed class action alleging it accumulated “well over” $100 billion from donors, but didn’t put that money toward charitable purposes identified in soliciting those donations.

The plaintiffs’ claims are time-barred, and they nonetheless failed to plead sufficient facts to support their allegations, Judge Robert J. Shelby of the US District Court for the District of Utah said in a Thursday order dismissing the case with prejudice.

Utah’s statute of limitations for fraud starts ticking from when a plaintiff discovered or should have discovered the claim, and there’s “abundant evidence” showing ...