SALT LAKE CITY — The LDS Church has agreed to return $2.3 million in donations paid by imprisoned businessman Jeremy Johnson.
The settlement comes as part of a civil lawsuit the Federal Trade Commission filed against the St. George man in 2010, alleging his internet marketing company, iWorks, defrauded online customers of $280 million.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints agreed to repay Johnson's tithing and other contributions to a receiver placed in charge of his estate after the FTC froze his assets. A federal judge approved the agreement last week. Johnson settled with the FTC last summer.
In a parallel criminal case, a federal jury convicted Johnson last year of eight counts of making false statements to a bank and acquitted him of 78 fraud and money laundering charges. He is serving an 11-year sentence in federal prison in Safford, Arizona.