A Shincheonji Executive with a 2 Million Won Salary... How Did He Become a Billion-Won Asset Owner?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Shincheonji Daegu Church in Daemyeong-dong, Nam-gu, Daegu City, on the afternoon of the 19th of last month. The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters announced that patient number 31, the first confirmed COVID-19 case in Daegu, recently visited this church to pray.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Shinwon Yoon] On the 5th, Yoon Jaeduk, head of the Eschatology Office, raised suspicions about the process of wealth accumulation by a branch leader of Shincheonji.

On the same day, Yoon appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and stated, "Shincheonji is structured so that neither executives nor others can become wealthy," adding, "The 12 branch leaders, known as high-ranking executives, also receive a salary of 2 million won, and after tithes, it is 1.8 million won, but just from what has been confirmed, one has amassed 10 billion won."

He said, "Is it possible for branch leaders to have other jobs? That is impossible," and added, "Members put aside their studies and jobs to focus on recruiting others, but branch leaders should not do that. Most are inevitably poor, and Shincheonji members believe that Chairman Lee Man-hee has little personal wealth and works tirelessly for Shincheonji."

He continued, "However, Mr. A, known as a branch leader, has accumulated 10 billion won just from confirmed real estate holdings," and said, "He often spoke about being poor in his youth and spent most of his life with Chairman Lee Man-hee in Shincheonji. It is presumed that accumulating 10 billion won in assets was impossible, so the fact that it happened is a suspicious point."

Yoon speculated that illegal methods were used in Mr. A's wealth accumulation. He explained, "Mr. A purchased an apartment worth about 200 million won under a borrowed name and bought 10 real estate properties using the names of himself, his daughter, acquaintances, and daughter-in-law," adding, "There is also evidence that when constructing buildings for Shincheonji, construction costs were inflated, and labor costs amounting to tens of billions of won were embezzled by mobilizing 5,000 Shincheonji members."

Furthermore, he claimed, "Mr. A disguised Shincheonji members as employees of construction companies and held their bank accounts, seals, and passwords to receive salaries himself," and "There is also KakaoTalk evidence that he urged those young people to claim unemployment benefits."

When asked whether Chairman Lee Man-hee was behind Mr. A, he responded, "I don't think so," and added, "These matters have been ongoing since 2010, so Chairman Lee Man-hee is well aware, and there have been audits from the headquarters."

He continued, "Nevertheless, the reason for staying silent is believed to be that Mr. A holds a weakness of Chairman Lee Man-hee."

Yoon plans to file a complaint against Mr. A with the prosecution.

He pointed out, "All the assets acquired by Mr. A are not Shincheonji's but his personal property. Shincheonji members should consider where the money came from."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.