In this photo provided by the Davis County Sheriff’s Office shows Lev Aslan Dermen. Openings arguments are set Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020, in Utah for a California businessman who prosecutors accuse of being a key figure in a $511 million tax credit scheme carried out by two executives of a Salt Lake City biodiesel company linked to a polygamous group. The men from the polygamous group pleaded guilty last year to money fraud and other charges and are expected to testify against Lev Aslan Dermen, who has pleaded not guilty. (Davis County Sheriff’s Office, via AP)
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah polygamist says he gave nearly $30 million from a biodiesel fraud scheme to the polygamous group to which he belongs.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Jacob Kingston said Wednesday in court that the money went to a Utah-based polygamous group called the Davis County Cooperative Society, also known as the Kingston Group or The Order. He has previously said in the trial that the group aims to practice communal living with members sharing some of their earnings.
He is testifying for the prosecution against a California businessman who prosecutors say helped Kingston carry-out the nearly $500 million fraud scheme.
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