Shincheonji Leader Lee Man-hee Reported to Prosecution... Assigned to Suwon District Prosecutors' Office

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] The case of the accusation against Lee Man-hee, the founder of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, identified as the epicenter of the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), has been assigned to the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office.

On the 27th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office announced that the case in which the National Shincheonji Victims Solidarity (Jeonpiyeon) accused Chairman Lee of violating the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act and other charges was assigned to the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office on the same day. A Supreme Prosecutors' Office official explained, "Considering that the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office has jurisdiction over the southern Gyeonggi region, including the Shincheonji headquarters, and the seriousness of the matter, the case was assigned to the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office."

Earlier, at 11 a.m. on the same day, Jeonpiyeon held a press conference in front of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, announcing that they would accuse Chairman Lee of violating the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act and embezzlement and breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

On the 25th, when Gyeonggi Province began securing the Shincheonji list and conducting epidemiological investigations related to COVID-19, a forced epidemiological investigation was taking place inside the affiliated institution of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi./Gwacheon=Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

In the accusation, Jeonpiyeon claimed that Shincheonji was obstructing epidemiological investigations by underreporting the number of gatherings and believers, and out of fear of revealing their organization’s identity and protecting the group, urging the prosecution to conduct forced investigations such as church searches.

Jeonpiyeon pointed out, "Although they appear to cooperate outwardly, they are distributing false behavioral guidelines to believers behind the scenes, and a former health center quarantine team leader who was a church member confessed to being part of Shincheonji only after being diagnosed late, showing their desperate attempts to hide their identity."

They added, "Chairman Lee Man-hee, aside from his role as a cult leader, has no particular ability to accumulate wealth," and claimed that embezzlement is suspected in the acquisition process of real estate worth around 10 billion KRW by Chairman Lee and Kim Nam-hee, known as his former mistress. They raised issues regarding the Shincheonji training center in Goseong-ri, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, called the 'Palace of Peace,' a villa in Seonchon-ri, Gapyeong-gun, and land and buildings in Cheongpyeong-ri, Gapyeong-gun, and Hyeon-ri, Cheongdo-gun, Gyeongbuk Province.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Jeonpiyeon also raised suspicions that Shincheonji interfered in elections and created slush funds to lobby the political world, based on media reports such as "Founder Lee Man-hee boasted that he named the Saenuri Party" and "They systematically joined as party members during the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye presidential elections to intervene in the elections."

The organization also demanded searches and seizures of the Shincheonji headquarters general assembly office in Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi Province, and the Busan Jacob branch headquarters office, which established and oversees the branch in Wuhan, China, the origin of COVID-19, to investigate these suspicions.

In this regard, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters received an additional list of 65,127 individuals classified as trainees from the Shincheonji headquarters in the afternoon of the same day. On the 25th, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters had received a list of 212,000 believers from Shincheonji and delivered it to local governments for a full investigation. However, since this list excluded prospective believers classified as trainees, the headquarters requested the church to resubmit the list.