Tim Cook, J.P. Morgan, and George and Amal Clooney should realize that some[i] of the millions they are donating to the Southern Poverty Law Center is going to end up on the Cayman Islands or in other offshore secrecy havens.  The SPLC is a big business that raises far more than it spends, and it is building up assets in places that offer secrecy as a marketing point.

SPLC's building iin Montgonery, Ala.

We know this thanks to some admirable (and often tedious) digging through publicly available documents filed with the IRS by the Southern Poverty Law Center.  Joe Schoffstall of the Free Beacon deserves much credit:

The SPLC has turned into a fundraising powerhouse, recording more than $50 million in contributions and $328 million in net assets on its 2015 Form 990, the most recently available tax form from the nonprofit. SPLC's Form 990-T, its business income tax return, from the same year shows that they have "financial interests" in the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, and Bermuda. No information is available beyond the acknowledgment of the interests at the bottom of the form.

However, the Washington Free Beacon discovered forms from 2014 that shed light on some of the Southern Poverty Law Center's transfers to foreign entities.

The SPLC's Form 8865, a Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Partnerships, from 2014 shows that the nonprofit transferred hundreds of thousands to an account located in the Cayman Islands.

SPLC lists Tiger Global Management LLC, a New York-based private equity financial firm, as an agent on its form. The form shows a foreign partnership between the SPLC and Tiger Global Private Investment Partners IX, L.P., a pooled investment fund in the Cayman Islands. SPLC transferred $960,000 in cash on Nov. 24, 2014 to Tiger Global Private Investment Partners IX, L.P, its records show.

The SPLC's Form 926, a Return by a U.S. Transferor of Property to a Foreign Corporation, from 2014 shows additional cash transactions that the nonprofit had sent to offshore funds.

The SPLC reported a $102,007 cash transfer on Dec. 24, 2014 to BPV-III Cayman X Limited, a foreign entity located in the Cayman Islands. The group then sent $157,574 in cash to BPV-III Cayman XI Limited on Dec. 31, 2014, an entity that lists the same PO Box address in Grand Cayman as the previous transfer.

The nonprofit pushed millions more into offshore funds at the beginning of 2015.

On March 1, 2015, SPLC sent $2,200,000 in cash to AQR Managed Futures Offshore Fund Ltd., which the SPLC marked to an address in Greenwich, Ct., on its form. However, the entity is located in Canana Bay, Cayman Islands, according to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) records. Individuals at AQR Capital Management, a global investment management firm, act as executive directors of the fund and are located in Connecticut.

Another $2,200,000 cash transfer was made on the same day to AQR Style Premia Offshore Fund Ltd., whose primary address and principal place of business is located at the same address as the previous fund in the Cayman Islands, according to SEC records. AQR Capital Management in Connecticut also manages this fund.

No information is contained on its interests in Bermuda on the 2014 forms. SPLC's financial stakes in the British Virgin Islands were not acknowledged until its 2015 tax form.

Now, to be clear, using offshore investments in secrecy havens is not a crime, and there are no doubt legitimate reasons for their use.  And offshore banking secrecy has been radically diminished.  But why would charities want to locate millions of dollars where tracing their ultimate destination becomes all but impossible?  That is the opposite of transparency.  And call me old-fashioned, but it seems to me that if you receive tax deductibility for allegedly serving the public good, then transparency is a moral obligation. 

Tucker Carlson refers to the Southern Poverty Law Center as a "fraud,"  and Stella Morabito documents multiple ways in which it is a scam.

Nobody from the SPLC was available to comment, and we can be sure that the MSM will continue to present the SPLC as a legitimate arbiter of hate.

Hat tip: Dennis Sevakis