Canada probing former top FLDS official

A man who was once one of the top leaders of the Fundamentalist LDS Church is under investigation in Canada.

One of the purported wives of polygamist Winston Blackmore told the Deseret Morning News that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is wrapping up an investigation of Blackmore.

"We've heard just a little bit," Edith Barlow said Wednesday. "We're expecting (something to happen) within the next couple of weeks."

RCMP officers confirmed to the Deseret Morning News there is an investigation but said no criminal charges are imminent.

"Our investigation is continuing, but that's all I can say about that," Staff Sgt. John Ward said from the RCMP's Vancouver office.

Blackmore was once the No. 3 man in the FLDS Church, leading the community of Bountiful, in British Columbia. He was ousted by Warren Jeffs, the fugitive leader of the polygamist group. Hundreds of followers in Bountiful remained loyal to Blackmore and split from the FLDS Church.

The FBI placed Warren Jeffs on its Ten Most Wanted list on Saturday, offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. Utah and Arizona authorities have charged Jeffs with crimes related to performing child bride marriages, forcing teenage girls into polygamous marriages to older men. Federal authorities have charged Jeffs with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

Utah's attorney general confirmed his office is conducting an organized crime investigation into Jeffs and the FLDS Church. Sources tell the Deseret Morning News that Blackmore has been cooperating with investigators looking into Jeffs, the FLDS Church and its financial arm, the $110 million United Effort Plan Trust. Recently, Blackmore sent out a newsletter urging his followers to pay their property taxes.

Attempts to reach Blackmore for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Blackmore's purported wives have been questioned by RCMP investigators.

"They were trying to prosecute Winston and using us to prosecute him," Barlow said. "When we realized what was going on, it made us angry. We're the ones that are putting him in jail."

Barlow said Canadian authorities can't make a case for poly- gamy against Black- more, because she and other sister-wives are not legally married to him.

Meanwhile, Canadian authorities are applying pressure to the polygamous enclave just over the Idaho border.