Pastor Who Forged Documents for 'Self-Gifting' Church Apartment, Court Calls It a "Betrayal of Congregation"

Embezzlement from Church Account
"An Act of Betraying the Entire Congregation"

The court sentenced a pastor to prison for forging meeting minutes without the consent of church members and transferring an apartment registered under the church's name to himself as a gift.

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According to the legal community on the 19th, Judge Shin Sang-ryeol of the Criminal Division 1 at the Seoul Northern District Court sentenced Pastor Seo, the head pastor of a church in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, to 1 year and 6 months in prison on charges of forgery of private documents, use of forged private documents, and embezzlement in the course of duty. Seo served as the head pastor of the church for 12 years starting from 1989.

Earlier, in September 2021, Seo is accused of arbitrarily writing in the church meeting minutes that "the apartment is gifted to Head Pastor Seo ○○" and submitting it to the court registry office to transfer ownership.

He is also charged with embezzling a total of 268 million won in three installments from a church bank account under the church’s name that he managed in October of the same year.

It was confirmed that he committed these crimes after suffering losses from stock investments made with church assets without the knowledge of the congregation, which led to legal disputes.

Seo claimed, "In June 2013, a resolution was made to transfer the apartment ownership to me, and I only supplemented the documents based on the judgment that I had received the gift legitimately." He also argued that the money transfer was part of an interim settlement of retirement pay and therefore could not be considered embezzlement in the course of duty.

However, the court found him guilty on all charges, citing that Seo was under suspension at the time due to personal misconduct.

The court stated the sentencing reason: "Even considering that the defendant founded the church and lived a disciplined life as a pastor, his actions betrayed the entire congregation, showing a very poor nature of the crime and a heavy sense of guilt."

However, mitigating factors included Seo being a first-time offender and returning 238 million won to the church.

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