CH0NJONHOE
Edited articles on Chonjonhoe (a new religion charged with
swindling millions from its members)
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Doomsday cult leaders sentenced to prison
("Korea Herald", July 12, 2000)The Seoul District Court yesterday sentenced three leaders of the "Chojonhoe" doomsday cult to prison terms after finding them guilty of swindling their 1,500 followers out of tens of billions of won.
Chonjonhoe founder Mo Haeng-ryong, 66, and his wife Park Kui-dal, 52, were both sentenced to 10 years in prison, and Lee Nak-woo, 47, the cult's secretary-general, was given a six-year jail term. They were all convicted on fraud charges.
The court gave 27 other members of the cult indicted for the same charges two to two and a half-year suspended sentences.
While meting out the sentences, the judges explained that the court gave relatively light punishments to the 27 Chojonhoe members because they had no previous criminal records and regretted blindly believing the leaders and involving themselves in criminal acts.
According to prosecutors, the three leaders began to deceive believers in 1990 by spreading the message that the end of the world would come in 2000. They had their followers take out loans worth about 38 billion won ($34 million) from 5,000 financial institutions across the country over the past 10 years.
To get the loans, they used such fraudulent means as having believers offer mutual credit guarantees to each other.
Mo and Park then used the money to live in luxury, establishing about 10 companies of their own and building a large religious complex in Hongchon, Kangwon Province.
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Cult leaders accused of swindling $1b
by Roger Dean Du Mars ("South China Morning Post", July 11, 2000)In the nation's most extensive fraud committed by a cult, a married couple have been accused of swindling up to US$130 million (HK$1 billion) from 1,500 believers.
The Seoul District Prosecutor's office said in addition to the two ringleaders, Mo Haeng-ryong, 65, and his wife Park Kui-dal, 41, it indicted 42 other suspects and placed on a wanted list 113 members involved in the scam.
The "Chonjonhoe" cult, with 20 churches across the country, lured members by promising material and spiritual rewards that needed to be quickly acquired before the end of the world.
Prosecutors said 38 billion won (HK$264 million) had been uncovered.
"Finding all the money the cult leaders improperly acquired and hid in many investments will be a long task for us," a prosecutor said. "These people were expert professionals in how they got believers and manipulated all the money."
The prosecution is seeking to imprison the couple for 15 years, the maximum sentence for the crime.
The next largest case of cult fraud was in 1996, when 10 leaders of the "Aga Dongsan" group cheated members out of 7.2 billion won and embezzled 27 billion won.
Known for extreme religious beliefs, Koreans belong to 34 church denominations, 332 sects and 200 cults. The cults have more than 300,000 followers.
"There is no way we can control the spread of cults," said an official at the religious affairs division at the Ministry of Culture. "In this country there is freedom of religion and these groups don't have to register. Aberrant behaviour of the religious organisations can only be discovered and halted when crimes are committed."
Kim Kwang-ok, professor of anthropology at Seoul National University, said the spread of the cults could be traced to a struggle to adapt.
"Over the years Korea has gone through radical social change, including the obsession with capitalism," he said. "Difficulty in adapting causes outlandish behaviour."
Mo and Park, who had registered the cult as a mainstream church in 1985, claimed to be sent to earth from heaven and convinced followers of the chance to find eternal happiness.
Prosecutors alleged the couple and the other ringleaders took out credit loans worth 31 billion won at 5,000 institutions and collected 3.5 billion won in donations.
The loans were made in the names of the followers. The money was used to form 10 companies and build an elaborate religious complex. The cult members included government officials, wealthy businessmen, teachers, salarymen, taxi drivers, soldiers and housewives.
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Korean Doomsday Cult Sentenced
(Associated Press, July 11, 2000)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A South Korean court sentenced two leaders of a doomsday cult to 10 years in prison each Tuesday on charges of swindling followers out of millions of dollars.
Mo Haeng-ryong, 66, founder and head of the indigenous Chunjonhoe, or Heaven's Gathering, and his wife, Park Kui-dal, 52, were found guilty of fraud in Seoul District Criminal Court.
A dozen other cult leaders were given prison terms of up to six years on the same charges.
They were arrested following a search of the cult's headquarters in Hongchun, 125 miles northeast of Seoul, in January.
The cult, which incorporates Confucianism elements, urged followers to donate all their money, saying the world would end on Feb. 19 when it lost all its spiritual energy, prosecutors said.
With doomsday approaching, the cult leaders were preparing to flee the country with much of the money, prosecutors said.
The total amount of money scammed by the cult is estimated at $35 million.
Some of the money went to building the shrine and operating the cult's three businesses, including food, distribution and construction.
The cult was established in 1985 by Mo and his wife, who claimed they were given an order from heaven to build a holy shrine, called Daerachun, or big spiritual heaven, at Hongchun. The cult claims 150,000 members.
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Korean Doomsday Cult Members Suspected in $134 Mln Fraud Case
(Bloomberg, July 10, 2000)
Seoul, July 10 Korean prosecutors arrested 42 members of a doomsday cult, including leader Mo Haeng Ryong and his wife Park Kui Dal, on allegations they may have stolen as much as 150 billion won ($134 million) in the nation's biggest fraud case involving a religious group.
Prosecutors are looking for an additional 113 members of the cult known as Chonjonhoe, established in 1985 by Mo and his wife, who gathered disciples after deifying themselves. The cult, which spread messages saying the end of the world will come this year, had about 1,500 followers, including lawyers, businessmen and government officials.
Prosecutors said the cult swindled funds over the last 10 years from at least 5,000 financial institutions nationwide under their followers' names. Mo also set up about 10 companies and spent 15 billion won building a religious complex in the eastern part of Korea, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors have asked the government to cancel Chonjonhoe's registration and are investigating whether Mo and his wife may have stashed away more funds. Prosecutors are seeking a 15-year jail term for the couple, the maximum penalty allowed.
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