The joint investigation team probing allegations of collusion between the Unification Church and Shincheonji has concluded its investigation after eight months. During this period, the team achieved significant results, including indicting Shincheonji leader Lee Man-hee and Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja.
According to legal sources on August 31, the joint investigation team, which was established in January, has wrapped up its activities. The team has indicted Lee and three other Shincheonji officials on charges of collusion, while 12 additional officials were indicted without detention.
In relation to the Unification Church, 16 individuals connected to Han were indicted without detention. However, six Unification Church executives, deemed to have played a minor role in the offenses, were subject to summary orders.
The investigation team focused heavily on the Shincheonji's alleged coercion of members to join the ruling People Power Party. It concluded that Lee and former general secretary Ko Dong-an pressured members to join the party from 2021 to 2024, resulting in at least 66,472 members joining.
The team also confirmed allegations of tax evasion by Shincheonji. This case involved the operation of 70 local branches disguised under members' names from 2016 to 2020, with double bookkeeping leading to an evasion of 7.57 billion won in corporate and value-added taxes.
The investigation was reopened based on a related administrative lawsuit ruling that had previously led to the non-prosecution of the case by the Suwon District Prosecutor's Office in 2021, resulting in additional charges against Lee and the former head of the business division.
Other cases included allegations that the head of the North Gyeonggi Simon faction of the Unification Church enrolled over 30 members in the Democratic Party to influence the party's mayoral primary in Goyang, as well as embezzlement and fraud cases involving former general secretary Ko.
Regarding the Unification Church investigation, the team confirmed organized illegal political donations using church funds and large-scale embezzlement. It found that from 2019 to last year, the Unification Church made illegal donations totaling 189 million won to 132 politicians, including members of the National Assembly, in 219 instances to secure favorable political support.
As a result, former Unification Church World Headquarters leader Yoon Young-ho and two others were indicted without detention on charges of violating political funding laws, while six district leaders involved in the offenses were also subject to summary indictments.
Additionally, through the financial misconduct investigation, the team confirmed that Han, former secretary general Jeong Won-joo, and Yoon were involved in embezzling approximately 10.5 billion won from church funds from 2017 to last year. They allegedly misappropriated funds through false accounting for overseas missionary support or by failing to record cash donations in the church's accounts.
The team seized 26 billion won in cash from safes installed in Han's bedroom and is currently proceeding with asset recovery procedures.
The joint investigation team stated, "This is the first case confirming the reality of religious-political collusion crimes, where a religious organization attempted to influence the decision-making of a specific political party using its large organizational power. We have also uncovered the structural financial misconduct within the religious organization that served as the source of illegal political funding."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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