Three former high-ranking officials of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, who are accused of forcing over 50,000 members to join the People Power Party, have been arrested.
On June 18, legal sources reported that a judge at the Seoul Central District Court issued arrest warrants for the three individuals, including former Shincheonji General Secretary Ko Dong-an, following a hearing the previous night. The judge cited concerns about the potential destruction of evidence and flight as reasons for the warrants.
These arrests mark the first detentions since the joint investigation team was established on January 6 to probe allegations of corruption and collusion. The team had previously sought arrest warrants for Ko and two other key suspects on June 12 for violations of the Political Party Act and obstruction of business.
The suspects are accused of coercing members to join the People Power Party to exert organized influence during the party's presidential and parliamentary primary elections from 2021 to 2024. This action is considered a violation of the Political Party Act, which states that no one should be forced to join or leave a political party against their will.
During the investigation, it was revealed that Shincheonji used a covert operation named the "Pilates Project" to encourage and manage members' enrollment in the People Power Party. They allegedly misled members by presenting the membership situation as if they were part of a Pilates club, leading the investigation team to estimate that at least 50,000 Shincheonji members actually joined the ruling party.
With the arrest of these key officials, the investigation into Lee Man-hee, the leader of Shincheonji, is expected to gain momentum.
The joint investigation team has recently obtained crucial testimonies from former members of Shincheonji, who stated that directives for joining the party were issued from the top, starting with Lee Man-hee, followed by the general secretary, district leaders, and church heads.
As a result, the team summoned Lee on June 4 as a suspect and conducted an intensive investigation into the allegations of interference in the ruling party's primaries. Although Lee reportedly denied the charges, the arrests of his former top officials suggest that he may face legal consequences as well.
Additionally, the investigation team is looking into allegations that Ko, who managed the church's finances since 2017, collected over 11.3 billion won from members under the guise of covering Lee's personal legal and promotional expenses, some of which he allegedly embezzled. However, these charges were not included in the current arrest warrants for the key officials.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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