ID :
198943
Wed, 08/03/2011 - 12:16
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https://oananews.org//node/198943
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Pastor indicted over microcredit scam
SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Yonhap) -- A pastor has been indicted on charges of swindling fellow ministers and churchgoers out of billions of won, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The 66-year-old pastor, surnamed Kang, was accused of pocketing about 2.38 billion won (US$2.25 million) he received as seed money for his fraudulent plan to set up a Christian micro-lender, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said.
Kang raised the money from about 200 fellow pastors and parishioners by duping them into contributing toward a fake microcredit bank that he said would lend to low-income borrowers at low interest rates, the prosecution said.
In connection with the scam, prosecutors also indicted another man surnamed Koh for helping Kang raise the money between late last year to early 2011, which he shared with the pastor, according to the prosecution.
Ministers leading financially unstable churches and their parishioners mainly fell victim to the scheme, the prosecution said.
Financial regulators had warned Kang previously against creating his own personal micro-lenders, which are by regulation illegal and cannot be approved as banks, prosecutors said.
The 66-year-old pastor, surnamed Kang, was accused of pocketing about 2.38 billion won (US$2.25 million) he received as seed money for his fraudulent plan to set up a Christian micro-lender, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said.
Kang raised the money from about 200 fellow pastors and parishioners by duping them into contributing toward a fake microcredit bank that he said would lend to low-income borrowers at low interest rates, the prosecution said.
In connection with the scam, prosecutors also indicted another man surnamed Koh for helping Kang raise the money between late last year to early 2011, which he shared with the pastor, according to the prosecution.
Ministers leading financially unstable churches and their parishioners mainly fell victim to the scheme, the prosecution said.
Financial regulators had warned Kang previously against creating his own personal micro-lenders, which are by regulation illegal and cannot be approved as banks, prosecutors said.
