On this episode of the Danny Jones Podcast, host Danny Jones sat down with Nathan Finochio, creator of the investigative documentary series The Religion Business, for an explosive three-hour conversation exposing systemic corruption, financial abuse, and alleged child sexual abuse within American religious institutions. Finochio, a lifelong Christian turned reformer, detailed how churches exploit a legal loophole allowing them to operate with zero financial transparency, collecting $550 billion annually in the U.S. while reporting nothing to the IRS—unlike every other nonprofit. He alleged churches use donor funds to silence rape victims with NDAs, cited one megachurch pastor with over $16 million in tax-free real estate funded by housing allowances, and projected the Mormon Church will become a trillion-dollar entity by 2040 despite donating only 2% of profits to charity. Finochio was arrested in Texas for attempting to question a pastor about finances and has been escorted off church properties nationwide. The conversation expanded into biblical scholarship, with Jones and Finochio discussing contradictions in scripture, the role of psychedelics in ancient religion, and contested Gospel passages. Finochio announced his series has partnered exclusively with Tucker Carlson's network and that Season 2, Episode 1—dropping in late 2024—will feature testimonies from individuals alleging ritual child abuse, blood oaths, and murders inside LDS temples in Salt Lake City. He called on pastors to adopt transparency, warned that the fusion of Christianity and politics under the Trump administration mirrors historical theocracies, and urged congregants to demand financial accountability as the only path to reform. The episode closed with Finochio's thesis that institutional religion in America has been deliberately 'kneecapped' by IRS regulations designed to remove its transformative power and convert faith into consumerism.
Nathan revealed upcoming Season 2 footage featuring testimonies from individuals claiming they witnessed ritual child murder and blood oaths inside Mormon temples in Salt Lake City starting at age three. He stated he is corroborating evidence and will name specific individuals in the episode focused on child sexual abuse in religious institutions.
Read this moment →Nathan detailed how pastors exploit tax-free housing allowances to acquire multimillion-dollar properties. He cited one Dallas megachurch pastor with an estimated $3.6 million annual housing allowance covering properties worth over $16 million, all funded tax-free by congregant donations with no public disclosure required.
Read this moment →Nathan Finochio, creator of The Religion Business documentary series, alleged that churches leverage donor funds to pay settlements and silence child sex abuse victims with nondisclosure agreements. He highlighted Trey's Law, currently before Congress, which would ban this practice, noting clergy in most states are not federally mandated reporters of abuse.
Read this moment →Nathan Finofico explained that while secular nonprofits must file Form 990 disclosing executive salaries and expenditures, religious institutions are exempt from all financial reporting to the IRS. This creates what he called the 'darkest legal sandbox' in American business, enabling unchecked financial abuse in a sector collecting $550 billion annually in the U.S.
Read this moment →Nathan projected the LDS Church will become a trillion-dollar entity by 2040 based on its current $350 billion in tax-exempt assets and $25 billion in annual market profits. Despite demanding 10% tithes from members, the church donated only 2% of profits to charity in the most recent year, he claimed.
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