'15 Billion Illegal Fundraising' Jeon Gwang-hun, 1st Trial Fine 20 Million Won

[Financial News] Pastor Jeon Gwang-hun of Sarang Jeil Church, who was put on trial for illegally raising tens of billions of won at the rally demanding the resignation of former President Moon Jae-in, was sentenced to a fine.
Judge Lee Young-rim of the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 8 sentenced Pastor Jeon, who is accused of violating the Donation Act, to a fine of 20 million won on the 8th.
Pastor Jeon is accused of illegally raising 1.5 billion won at the 'Moon Former President Resignation Movement' hosted by the Headquarters for Establishing Korea Rightly (Daegukbon) in areas such as Gwanghwamun, Jongno-gu, Seoul, in 2019.
Under the current Donation Act, to raise more than 10 million won, a plan must be submitted and registered with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety or local government. Religious organizations are not subject to the Donation Act's restrictions, but the raised funds must be used for religious activities.
The prosecution sought a 10-month prison sentence for Pastor Jeon, claiming he received a total of 1.5 billion won over 14,000 times from unspecified individuals without registering as a donation organization with the competent authority from July to December 2019.
Pastor Jeon's side argued that the rally's organizing group was a religious organization and thus not subject to the Donation Act's restrictions, but this was not accepted.
The court pointed out, "The Daegukbon rally seems to be a gathering of forces opposing the current government beyond religion," and "It cannot be seen that the rally participants united around Christian doctrine." It cited △the donations were made to unspecified individuals △the supporters were not recognized as believers △the supporters were not managed as believers.
The court ruled, "Considering the expected costs, it was fully anticipated that more than 10 million won would be raised within a year, yet this was avoided," and "The donations amounted to 1.5 billion won."
However, "The donations cannot be seen as a social harm," and "Considering that the collection of donations changed from prohibition to regulation, from permission to application, it cannot be seen as anti-social," it added.

theknight@fnnews.com Jung Kyung-soo Reporter