National Shincheonji Victims Solidarity Raises Additional Allegations of Embezzlement by Lee Man-hee and Shincheonji Executives

Members of the National Shincheonji Victims Solidarity held a press conference on the morning of February 27 in front of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, urging the dissolution of Shincheonji and the arrest and investigation of Chairman Lee Man-hee for violating the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, prior to filing a complaint against him. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-gi] The National Shincheonji Victims Solidarity (Jeonpiyeon), which previously filed a complaint with the prosecution against Lee Man-hee, the chairman of Shincheonji Church of Jesus (Shincheonji), holding him responsible for the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), has now raised additional suspicions of embezzlement involving Chairman Lee and Shincheonji executives.

On the morning of the 5th, Jeonpiyeon held a press conference in front of the Blue House fountain and raised six allegations related to Shincheonji, including slush fund creation, real estate acquisition, embezzlement of Chairman Lee Man-hee’s surgery expenses, and embezzlement of evangelism funds.

According to Jeonpiyeon, Shincheonji, composed of 12 branches nationwide, collects tithes monthly from churches affiliated with each branch, and the branch headquarters also collect offerings. The cash collected in this way is reported to the general headquarters, which Jeonpiyeon claims amounted to 348 billion KRW in 2018 and 384 billion KRW last year. Jeonpiyeon pointed out that no audits were conducted during this process, creating a structure where embezzlement in the course of duty could easily occur.

Jeonpiyeon also alleged that senior Shincheonji executives collected money from believers into personal accounts to create slush funds or purchased large-scale real estate, and that while constructing chapels in each branch, they embezzled labor costs by mobilizing believers instead of workers or collected construction offerings that were not used.

Additionally, it was claimed that the Shincheonji general headquarters forced believers who failed to evangelize by the end of 2018 to pay a kind of "fine" of 1.1 million KRW, and that the first prize, which was supposed to be given to believers who evangelized a lot, was given to Chairman Lee, constituting breach of trust or embezzlement in the course of duty. Jeonpiyeon announced that on this day, they would file a complaint with the Blue House against Chairman Lee and branch executives for embezzlement in the course of duty and other charges.

Jeonpiyeon also urged a compulsory investigation of Chairman Lee. Previously, on the 27th of last month, Jeonpiyeon had filed a complaint with the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office against Chairman Lee for violations of the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act and the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (embezzlement and breach of trust). The case has been assigned to the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office and is under investigation.

Jeonpiyeon stated that the list of believers submitted by the Shincheonji headquarters is unreliable and that no further cooperation can be expected from the Shincheonji leadership. Jeonpiyeon said, "Even at Chairman Lee Man-hee’s press conference on the 2nd, there was no message urging former believers to actively cooperate with the epidemiological investigation by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency," and added, "Whether a false list was submitted can be easily verified if the prosecution secures the entire list of church members through a search and seizure."