THE SECRET FLOW OF MONEY OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES: WHERE THE MILLIONS GO
Extensive article from the Norwegian press following the trial against the WT organization.
Jehovah's Witnesses' secret cash flow - where the millions end up
In May 2019, Jehovah's Witnesses sold a Kingdom Hall in Bergen. The price tag was 30 million Norwegian kroner. Five days later, 29 million kroner disappeared out of the country.
"When we took over, I remember the building appeared to be new," says Håvard Berger, pastor at Kristkirken. He shows us around their premises in Nesttun, Bergen. The red brick building was completed in 2000 and was intended to be an Assembly Hall for Jehovah's Witnesses, capable of accommodating up to 700 people at most. But things didn't go as planned. Twenty years later, the property was sold, and the Jehovah's Witness congregation moved into another Kingdom Hall in Bergen.
But why would the religious community sell such a new building? And what happened to the money? Now, Dagen can reveal that the sale of the Kingdom Hall in Bergen was part of an extensive international strategy, to launder several hundred million kroner out of the country.
Secret BOE Letters
In 2014, a BOE (body of elder) letter was sent to all Elder Bodies in Norway, advocating breaking a 120-year-old tradition in the religious community. Dagen has gained access to this previously unknown letter, in which all JW members are asked to make pledges for ‘Monthly Donations’, to "build Kingdom Halls worldwide.” The letter was signed by the Scandinavian JWorg Branch Office and sent to all Elder Bodies. Until then, congregations had been required to give from their own donations to a physical ‘contribution box’ at each Kingdom Hall. Each member was now required to write on a slip of paper what they were willing to monthly donate that would be collected by the local Body of Elders, who would then report an annual sum that the congregation was obligated to give on a monthly basis to the JWorg Branch in Norway.
Several congregations had borrowed money from JWorg ‘Kingdom Hall Building Fund’ they all had contributed to, that in turn was used to make loans, to build and renovate Kingdom Halls. In the letter, the JWorg Branch Office announced that they would forgive the “Building Fund” loans and also cover the costs of upgrading and major maintenance on all JWorg properties. "From now on, the JWorg Branch Office will cover all financing for approved building and improvement projects based on the donations given by you, dear brothers and sisters.” But it didn't stop there.
Taking Ownership of Buildings
In 2017, a new BOE letter was sent to all Elder Bodies, where the JWorg Branch Office now instructed that the congregations no longer owned their properties themselves. Also, the office in the JWorg Denmark Branch wanted to forcibly relocate congregations in Norway.
It stated that "no congregation [can] conclude that it 'owns' the Kingdom Hall," despite all the Norwegian congregations being organized as independent legal entities.
Congregations are only to manage the buildings "in accordance with the interests of the Kingdom.” Only Elder Bodies received the letter, and it was not shared with regular Jehovah's Witnesses members who have not been aware of it until now.
These Buildings Have Been Sold
An investigation conducted by Dagen shows that several Norway Kingdom Halls have been sold since 2017. Several of the congregations on short notice were required to consolidate with other congregations. At times, up to four congregations have been required to share the same building.
We constructed map to show the sales Dagen is aware of: (Here follows a graphic listing Kingdom Halls in Norway that have been sold in recent years.)
Money, money, money
One who has closely followed this development is Rolf Furuli in Stavern. The 81-year-old has devoted his entire adult life to Jehovah's Witnesses and has held leadership positions at both national and local levels. In the 1970s, he was a Overseer at the Branch in Norway, meaning he was one of the national leaders. Furuli explains that until 2017, the congregations themselves owned their properties. "Many had used their own savings to renovate or build anew. They felt these were like their own homes…so it was very upsetting when they started selling Kingdom Halls. People had worked hard to get these Halls, suddenly they were sold out from under them," says Furuli, sighing.
He explains that the increased travel distance makes it difficult for some members to attend meetings, especially the elderly and members without cars. Furuli is currently disfellowshipped from Jehovah's Witnesses, after publishing the book "My Beloved Religion - And the Governing Body" in 2020. There, he confronted what he believed was unhealthy theology and culture in the religious community.
Furuli believes that property sales and what he calls a pressure to donate, show that the JWorg Governing Body has become too focused on money. "Now it's money, money, money," he says.
Read Jehovah's Witnesses' response at the bottom of the article.
Lawsuit Led to Donation Bonanza
This winter, Jehovah's Witnesses have been at the center of a much-discussed filed lawsuit in Oslo District Court. In 2021, the state revoked their registration as a religious community and also a motion to stop financial state support. Before, JWorg had collected over 50 million kroner from the state. Last week, that financial support was lost when it was announced that the state won the lawsuit.
When the support disappeared, around 12,000 Norwegian members stepped up and gave like never before. In just the last financial year, contribution revenues increased from 20 million kroner, to 118 million kroner.
Donations have steadily increased since the change was introduced in the 2014 letter, where members were required to make specific donations. In the five years before the change, JWorg Denmark received an average of 31 million kroner in inheritance and contributions from members.
At the same time, large sums have also been laundered out of the country. In the last financial year, the amount accounted for almost half of what was collected.
Where the Money Goes
Data from the Currency Register shows that JWorg Norway has sent nearly 400 million kroner out of the country in the last five years. They have mainly gone to two countries: 300 million kroner has gone to one or more JWorg accounts in the United Kingdom. 80 million kroner was sent to one or more tax shelter accounts located at Luxembourg. These are also owned by JWorg in Germany.
In addition, they have sent 13.3 million kroner to countries in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and Central Europe, including Germany. Where the donated Norway money goes to in these countries, only the JWorg leadership knows.
The Scandinavian branch office claims that they are not aware that JWorg has tax sheltered accounts in Luxembourg. Read the full response at the bottom of the article.
How Dagen Gained Access to The Numbers
In this article, Dagen applied for access to donations from the public currency register, which is an overview of all transactions in and out of the country.
The Norwegian Tax Administration gave us access to all amounts JWorg has sent and received since January 1, 2019. We have also received an overview of which countries the money has been sent to and who owns the accounts.
Not Allowed to Keep Money in the Bank
In the same BOE letter from 2017, another order was given, which helps explain the large transfers out of the country.
The Danish JWorg Branch Office set a limit on how much money each congregation was allowed to have in the bank.
"All congregations should aim to have an amount in their account equivalent to two to three months' average congregation expenses," JWorg Branch in Denmark writes.
If a congregation has more than this in the account, for example, after a property sale, it should be sent to the Branch Office, which will then use it for building Kingdom Halls and Assembly Halls worldwide.
"There is no reason for congregations or Operating Committees to have large sums of money in the bank," the BOE letter states.
The idea is that the funds should be used for active use in the religious community, not left in Congregation bank accounts.
With this order, all congregations were required to send their money as quickly as possible. The graph below thus explains the reason transfer amounts have exploded since 2017.
Two Kingdom Halls Sold in Stavern
As part of the strategy, the Jehovah's Witnesses congregation in Stavern sold two buildings in recent years.
In the summer of 2018, they sold their old Kingdom Hall for 4.5 million kroner.
Four months later, they sold a residential building in the same street.
"The money we got from the sale of the Kingdom Hall was used to pay off a loan from JWorg Branch in the UK," says Ole Kristian Berg, who was one of the congregation's elders at the time.
He explains that they had invested a greater portion of their own money on the building, but now with the sale, they could finally get the balance of loan paid off.
"When the JWorg British Branch received the money, they cleared the debt. But they made us sign that we could not ask for a new loan for a Kingdom Hall," says Berg.
That same autumn, with the money from the original sale, they bought a new Kingdom Hall, centrally located in Stavern.
One Million in The Bank
In the beginning, the congregation had 1.2 million kroner in their bank account from the sale of the properties. But then came the order from JWorg Denmark Branch to send all additional bank funds to the JWorg UK Branch.
"We had to send the money to JWorg in Britain," says Berg.
It was "just one click" in the bank's electronic service before the money disappeared to JWorg UK Branch.
At that time, the congregation had no plans to build or renovate anything.
Berg admits that it felt strange to think about just spending the money on things they did not need.
"The leadership in Denmark said that all congregations should have two to three months' expenses in the account. We had the funds from the sale in the beginning, but JWorg UK cleaned out the congregation bank account," he says.
"It didn't feel good," he adds.
Had to Start Fundraising
The Norwegian Jehovah's Witnesses have now got a new problem.
They must have money in the bank account to pay the bills and, in addition, pay the required monthly donation per publisher to the JWorg Branch in Britain.
"It costs us 800,000 kroner a year to pay the JWorg required monthly payment per member and the general operating expenses of the congregation. So it became a huge challenge to have enough money in the account," says Berg.
They had had to start fundraising to have a buffer.
"Twice a year we have been forced to have a donation drive at the shops with our literature," says Berg.
"It's not easy," he admits.
To Johs. Thue, JWorg Branch in Norway's spokesman, Dagen asked why the money disappears out of the country.
In a written response, he writes that "Each individual congregation decides for itself how its local donations and bank accounts are to be managed."
"The donations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Norway are used for expenses related only to our activities in Norway. We do not send funds out of the country to cover the expenses of congregations in other countries," writes Thue.
He also writes that he has no knowledge of JWorg funding tax shelter accounts in Luxembourg.
Original article here behind paywall: https://t.co/2vy0xdQI9m