The joint prosecution-police investigation headquarters probing alleged collusion between the Unification Church and Shincheonji summoned and is questioning former executives, including the author of an internal whistleblowing report related to Shincheonji, on the 19th.
According to legal sources, at about 10:40 a.m. the investigation headquarters summoned a former Shincheonji branch leader, a person surnamed Choi, as a reference witness and is under investigation. Choi is known to have authored a whistleblowing report stating that from September 2017 to July 2020, a senior Shincheonji executive raised funds in the 10 billion won range from regional branch leaders under the pretext of publicity expenses or legal sponsorship fees.
In the report, Choi said, "Even as they collected 11.3 billion won and sent it up to the higher-ups, they never once explained how it was used transparently," and "They made each branch process receipts as if the cash sent up was used for evangelism expenses." Appearing at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office building on the day, Choi also said, "I assess the embezzled amount at about 11.3 billion won. It's quite serious," and "If a crime was committed, the person must pay the price."
The investigation headquarters was also said to have summoned and is questioning a person surnamed Cho, a former branch leader who served as a lecturer at Shincheonji-related seminars. The headquarters is reportedly set to verify with them the specific details of the alleged misconduct contained in the whistleblowing report and related evidence.
The investigation headquarters is also said to be looking into allegations of political intervention that Shincheonji tried to have its members join the People Power Party as full dues-paying members. Previously, former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo claimed that during the People Power Party's 2021 presidential primary, about 100,000 Shincheonji members joined as full dues-paying members and helped then-candidate Yoon Suk-yeol.
In addition, the investigation headquarters is said to be coordinating a schedule to summon for questioning a person identified as A, a former Shincheonji youth association head who served as a part-time deputy spokesperson for the predecessor of the Saenuri Party, the Hannara Party.