Lee Manhee's alleged embezzlement - SBS.
Reporter Chung Myung-won
Input 2020.04.24
Edited 2020.04.24 20:54
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Here's the news about the chairman of Shincheonji, Lee Man-hee. Lee, who was accused of violating the Act on the Prevention of Infectious Diseases, is also accused of embezzling the church assets. SBS has secured important evidences of Lee Man-hee's alleged slush fund. Lee, who said he didn't own any land, was found to have hidden properties under his name.
This is the exclusive report of our reporter Chung Myung-won.
<Reporter>
This is an internal document of Sincheonji.
A large-scale Hall of the General Assembly that can accommodate 144,000 people will be built in Gwacheon, and 6.7 billion and 5 billion won will be allocated to the Gwacheon branch and to the Daejeon tribe respectively.
For nearly two decades, Shincheonji has collected hundreds of billions of won under the pretext of "Donations for Building my Place."
Kim Jong-chul/Former executive of the Sincheonji General Assembly : Basically you have to pay a fee for the location. In other words, each tribe gives 4 billion, 1 billion, 10 billion won, to the General Assembly and they don't know where this money goes.
Reporter: Did they actually build a large temple?
Kim Jong-chul: No.
After a research, the result was that Shinchonji has never applied for a building permit on the land where the building was said would had been erected.
Where is the large amount of money of the member's donations for the construction then?
An informer who used to manage properties under borrowed-names in Sincheonji said the money was distributed to several borrowed-name accounts.
Shincheonji's informer: I managed about 200 billion won, you know. In cash. It is managed through borrowed-names accounts and he (Lee Man-hee) divides it under the names of his associates. As it is money laundering he buys buildings, mostly land.
He testified that the balance of the borrowed-name account he used to manage was 90 billion won, and 200 billion won was distributed to several borrowed-name accounts throughout the General Assembly, and that the money was mainly cash from the tribes.
This is also in line with an ex-members' testimony that in the Shincheonji General Assembly the bags of cash were directly carried.
Kim Choong-il/Former Shincheonji member: In fact, among the ex-members there is a person who regularly transferred the bag of cash.
Reporter: Bag of cash?
Kim Choong-il: Yes, a bag of cash. They said, 'This is (the money) that comes from the tribes.'
He also specified that Lee Man-hee has many hidden real estates in the Gwacheon area, even though he doesn't know the exact number of the properties.
Lee Man-hee, talking to the congregation members, has stressed that there are no properties in his name.
Lee Man-hee/Chairman of the Shincheonji General Assembly: "There is not a single room or any land in my name. Try to ask. I don't own anything."
To verify the information, our reporters visited dozens of properties in Gwacheon over a month.
After checking the owners one by one, we found dubious properties around the site where the mini new city was planned, in Gwacheon.
Lee Man-hee was identified as the owner of a land, whose official value exceeds 1.7 billion won and whose market value is 2.8 billion won.
Jung Il-bae/Lawyer: "We can just say it's Lee Man-hee's. If you bought a church for the first time, it is highly possible that you will be exempted from taxes. But even so, if you did that, it must be for a purpose."
In 2014, Lee Man-hee was found to be the co-owner of the Peace Palace in Gapyeong, which costed more than 5 billion won, together with Kim Nam-hee, the second-in-command at the time.
Shincheonji said tha Mr. Lee only lent his name, but a few months later, Lee signed a contract with Shincheonji for the reimbursement through his share.
Kim Nam-hee has been engaged in a legal battle over the ownership since she left Shincheonji, and she recently hinted at the whereabouts of the slush fund.
Kim Nam-hee/Former IWPG CEO (Source: TV): "I know where all the money that are collected flows."
An informer also said that, in case the embezzlement issue was brought up, Mr. Lee takes preventive measures with the member who lent his or her name for the bank account when he
withdraws the money.
Mr. A, Sincheonji's informer: "Had those who had the money to sit down and write that they would lend some money on a certain day of the month. That's how he took the money from the borrowed-name bank accounts."
However, Sinchonji denied all the allegations, including the existence of borrowed-name accounts and slush fund.
(Video coverage: Lee Won-sik, Video source: National Alliance for Countermeasures against Shincheonji)
[Note: 1USD=1,204KRW]
Original article and videoclip: https://news.v.daum.net/v/20200424204809184?s=tv_news
