An appeals court on Sunday sentenced Yoon Young-ho, former head of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification’s global headquarters, to prison for using church funds to provide money and valuables to first lady Kim Keon Hee and ruling party lawmaker Kwon Seong-dong.
The Seoul High Court’s Criminal Division 6-1 sentenced Yoon to 18 months in prison for violating the anti-graft law, the Political Funds Act and for occupational embezzlement. The term was increased from the 14 months ordered at trial.
Prosecutors said Yoon gave Kwon 100 million won in illegal political funds. They also said that from April to August 2022, Yoon used Jeon Seong-bae — known as “Geonjin Beopsa” — to deliver about 60 million won worth of items to Kim, including a Graff necklace, a Chanel bag and a concentrated ginseng product. Investigators said the money and items came from Unification Church funds.
The court said Yoon’s provision of valuables to Kim constituted occupational embezzlement. “Providing valuables to the spouse of a president-elect to seek favors cannot be tolerated under the overall legal order,” the panel said, adding that because church funds were used, an intent to unlawfully appropriate was recognized. The court said the special prosecutor’s appeal had merit and rejected the defense’s arguments.
The panel said it applied a mandatory reduction provision under the special counsel law related to Kim. It cited Yoon’s cooperation during the investigation, including statements that helped open leads into the probe involving Jeon, and his admissions about providing funds to Kwon and delivering the bag and necklace to Kim. The court called them “key statements that contributed to identifying other people’s crimes” and treated them as grounds for a reduced sentence.
As in the first trial, the court dismissed the indictment on an evidence-destruction charge. It said the alleged act was difficult to view as falling within the special counsel law’s investigative scope and rejected the special prosecutor’s appeal on that point.
In explaining the sentence, the court described the crimes as an effort by the Unification Church to expand political influence. It said the acts were carried out to support a presidential candidate and to broaden policy influence after the launch of a new administration, undermining the purposes of the Political Funds Act and the anti-graft law and violating the constitutional principle of separating religion and politics. The panel said the case was serious because it damaged public trust in the fair execution of national policy.
The court said it also considered Yoon’s cooperation, his general acceptance of key facts, his contribution to clarifying other suspects’ crimes and his lack of a criminal record. It imposed six months for the Political Funds Act violation and one year for the anti-graft and embezzlement charges, and denied his request for bail, citing a risk of flight.
After the ruling, Yoon left the courtroom with a tense expression and a flushed face.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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