Illegal Fundraising at Rally... Prosecutors Indict Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon, the head pastor of Sarang Jeil Church, who is accused of illegally collecting donations by holding rallies at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul in 2019, has been indicted without detention.

According to the legal community on the 23rd, the Criminal Division 10 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Jin Hyun-il) indicted Pastor Jeon without detention on the 14th on charges of violating the Act on the Collection and Use of Donations. However, he was cleared of charges related to violations of the Political Funds Act.

Pastor Jeon is accused of serving as the general representative of the Moon Jae-in Resignation National Struggle Headquarters (Beomtu-bon) in October 2019 and distributing envelopes to rally participants every weekend at Gwanghwamun Square and in front of the Blue House in Seoul to collect offerings. This is an allegation of collecting offerings without registering the donations, and it is known that the amount collected by Pastor Jeon alone reached 1.5 billion won. Under the current Act on the Collection and Use of Donations, if the amount collected exceeds 10 million won, a collection and usage plan must be prepared and registered with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety or local government.

However, the prosecution judged that the money collected by Pastor Jeon could not be considered political funds and dismissed the charges related to violations of the Political Funds Act.