"Get Rich Through 'God's Enterprise'... Eunhagyogyo Cult Co-Leaders Sentenced to Prison in First Trial"

The leaders of the pseudo-religious group "Eunhagyogyo," who created an illegal multi-level marketing organization under the pretext of promising eternal life and defrauded hundreds of followers out of billions of won, have been sentenced to prison.

On January 13, Judge Kim Gilho of the Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Division 14 sentenced co-leader Na (age 73) to three years and six months in prison and co-leader Bae (age 65) to six years in prison for fraud and other charges. Close associates Park, who was also tried on the same charges, was sentenced to four years and six months in prison; Lee received one year; and Kim was sentenced to four years.

Judge Kim stated, "The company's operations were entirely fabricated, and the profit structure described by the defendants was never realized. All the money collected was for educational fees and purchase payments." He added, "The amount of money paid by the victims was excessively high compared to the quality of the products, and some victims never received the goods even after making payments," thereby recognizing the fraud charges.

He further noted, "The organization divided ranks into more than three levels and set different sponsorship commissions for each rank. Some victims were paid a portion of the educational fees as activity support funds when they recruited new followers," concluding that this constituted an illegal multi-level marketing organization.

He continued, "By disguising themselves as a religious group, they operated a multi-level marketing organization, exploited the desires of followers who sought secular wealth through peace of mind and salvation, indoctrinated them with false doctrines and beliefs, and used religious authority to commit these crimes against many followers over eight years. This led the victims to harbor unrealistic hopes of windfall gains, undermined sound economic judgment, and destroyed the financial foundations, families, and normal human relationships of many victims, resulting in significant socioeconomic harm."

In particular, regarding co-leader Bae, who had a prior conviction for similar crimes, the judge added, "He used his previous organizational management experience to devise the scheme and educated victims with false information, making his culpability especially grave."

From around 2016 to March 2024, these individuals are accused of recruiting followers as salespeople for an unregistered multi-level marketing company and defrauding approximately 3.1 billion won from over 500 people under the pretense of franchise membership fees and other charges.

Since around 2013, they have claimed to be the "Heavenly Father," "Heavenly Mother," and "God's firstborn son," the living embodiment of the Trinity and the protagonists of all world religions, and have conducted missionary activities targeting the elderly and the poor in areas such as Seoul and Incheon. Under the pretext of eternal life and resurrection, they lured followers with promises of wealth through the so-called "God's Enterprise," ultimately recruiting around 1,800 followers, according to investigations.