180 Million KRW in Illegal Donations to 132 Politicians… 9 FFWPU Officials, Including Yun Young-ho, Indicted
Nationwide Organization Mobilized to Expand Influence… Insufficient Evidence Against True Mother Hak Ja Han Moon and Others – Original Article
Related Article: CHOSUNBIZ
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Jae-hyun — Former and current senior leaders of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) have been brought to trial for mobilizing a nationwide organization to make illegal political contributions to 132 politicians, including members of the National Assembly.
The Joint Investigation Headquarters on Political-Religious Collusion Corruption (headed by Kim Tae-hoon, Chief Prosecutor of the Daejeon High Prosecutors’ Office) announced on August 11th that three individuals—Yun Young-ho, former Director-General of the FFWPU World Headquarters; Song Kwang-seok, former President of the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP); and Lee, former President of the Universal Peace Federation (UPF)—were indicted without detention on charges of violating the Political Funds Act and business embezzlement.
Six other officials, including FFWPU Sub-regional Directors who partially participated in the crimes, were summarily indicted on the same charges.
They are accused of illegally donating approximately 188 million KRW of church funds on 218 occasions to 132 politicians, including National Assembly members, using the nationwide FFWPU network from September 2019 to January last year.
The Joint Investigation Headquarters found that FFWPU provided political funds under the individual names of church affiliates in order to encourage large political participation in events they hosted and to expand their religious influence through these figures.
To uncover the truth behind the allegations, the Joint Investigation Headquarters raided 24 locations, including the Cheon Jeong Gung Museum, traced approximately 480 bank accounts, and investigated 82 individuals involved in the case.
However, regarding True Mother Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, Co-Founder of FFWPU, and Jung Won-ju, former Chief of Staff, the investigation concluded with a decision not to forward the case due to insufficient evidence of direct involvement.
The 132 politicians were also excluded from indictment, as it was determined that they were unaware that the donations received through bank accounts were targeted funds sent by FFWPU organizations for a specific purpose.
The Joint Investigation Headquarters is also investigating allegations under the Official Election Act that some Shincheonji members in the metropolitan area joined the Democratic Party ahead of the June 3 local elections this year.
During the investigation of a former Shincheonji member around March, the Joint Investigation Headquarters reportedly obtained testimony indicating that in 2022, the head of the Simon Tribe Youth Association encouraged party registration, stating, “I am registered with both the People Power Party and the Democratic Party. We need to show our strength to politicians.”
The Joint Investigation Headquarters stated: “We will strictly and swiftly proceed with investigations into other allegations surrounding FFWPU and Shincheonji.”
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