Some leaders of a polygamist Mormon sect in the United States have been arrested on allegations of food stamp fraud and money laundering.
The eleven arrested leaders, including several senior members, were arrested for allegedly manipulating the foods aid programme and detained in the states of Utah and South Dakota.
They stand accused of diverting funds from the programme in Utah, prosecutors said.
The sect known as Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (FLDS) broke away from the mainstream Mormon church more than a century ago, mainly for differences that involved the church’s suspension of the practice of polygamy.
In 2011, the sect’s leader Warren Jeffs was handed a life sentence after he was convicted of sexually assaulting two minors he took as brides.
One of the eleven arrested is Jeffs brother, Lyle, who is believed to be in charge of the day-to-day running of the sect’s operations.
Dismissing the rumour that the sect was being targeted, US Attorney John Huber said: “This indictment is not about religion. This indictment is about fraud.”
“This indictment charges a sophisticated group of individuals operating in the Hildale-Colorado City community who conspired to defraud a programme intended to help low-income individuals and families purchase food,” he added.
The sect has about 10,000 members.
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