Attorneys General from Arizona and Utah have nominated a former politician to manage a $100-million trust in a polygamist community. The trust was developed by fundamentalist religious leader Warren Jeffs who’s in prison for sexually assaulting young girls.
They have nominated former Utah Lieutenant Governor Val Oveson to take over the trust. It includes homes and property in Jeffs’ Mormon community near the Arizona-Utah state line.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports Oveson will replace Bruce Wisan as the trust manager after Wisan was recently charged with patronizing a prostitute.
Wisan pleaded not guilty, but has resigned from his accounting firm and volunteered to give up running the trust.
Wisan was appointed by a judge in 2005 to manage the trust after the state of Utah took control amid allegations of mismanagement by Jeffs and other leaders.
The nomination still needs final court approval.