Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, Korea, Legal, NXIVM, Australia
"In September, Han Hak Ja, the leader of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (commonly known as the Unification Church), who referred to herself as the "only daughter," was arrested on charges of delivering political funds and bribery worth hundreds of millions of KRW. Questions remain about the origin and purpose of the large sums of money allegedly funneled into politics. 'PD Note' obtained exclusive USB documents detailing the flow of funds within the Unification Church, seeking to uncover where the donations, given by followers to fulfill what they believed to be "heaven's will," actually went.
In the middle of Jangrak Mountain in Seorak-myeon, Gapyeon County, a massive white palace stands as a striking landmark. Constructed under Han Hak Ja's direction in the name of building a "heaven on earth," the palace, known as Cheonwon Palace, is said by insiders to be extravagantly decorated, with chandeliers costing tens of millions of KRW. Dubbed the "sanctuary of the heavenly parents," the palace conceals many secrets. Using exclusive documents, 'PD Note' investigates the massive funds behind the lavish palace and traces how the church's money was actually used."
The former self-help guru and convicted sex slave ringleader is seeking to vacate his convictions by accusing the FBI of planting falsified evidence of underage sexual exploitation on his computer's hard drive.
"Imprisoned sex cult leader Keith Raniere urged a federal appeals panel on Tuesday to revive his bid for a new trial because the claims federal investigators manufactured evidence of child pornography and planted it on a computer hard drive to link him to child pornography and sexual exploitation RICO predicate acts.
Raniere, 65, founded NXIVM as a purported self-help group in the 1990s and was accused at trial of later creating a secretive inner circle subgroup within the organization known as DOS or "The Vow."
Its female members said they served as "slaves" for Raniere and "masters" who recruited additional new slaves to serve Raniere, who was known as "the Vanguard."
They said each new DOS recruit, or "slave," was forced to provide collateral, like sexually explicit photographs or other personal information, which turned into a monthly pattern of extortion, and at Raniere's direction, the women would sear his initials on one another with a branding iron, without anesthesia.
During a six-week trial in Brooklyn federal court, witnesses detailed sexual abuse, control, and manipulation at the hands of Raniere. He was sentenced to 120 years of prison after being convicted on all seven counts, which included sex trafficking, forced labor, and wire fraud.
The fraud charge alone included 11 racketeering acts, among them creation and possession of child pornography, conspiracy to commit identity theft, and extortion."
"Christian leaders have cautioned against creating coercive control laws for cults over fears that legitimate religious groups could be captured.
Methods used by cults and organised fringe groups to recruit and control members are being probed by a Victorian parliamentary inquiry, as well as the impacts of coercive control.
In public hearings on Tuesday, the Australian Christian Lobby argued existing laws were sufficient to address criminal and abusive behaviour within cults.
There is no legal definition of a cult in Australia, and Victoria does not explicitly criminalise coercive control as a separate behaviour, with examples such as threats and intimidation subject to family violence laws.
Queensland is the second Australian jurisdiction behind NSW to criminalise coercive control, with the laws triggered by the 2020 murder of Hannah Clarke and her three children.
The lobby's Victorian director, Jasmine Yuen, told the inquiry that new legislation would be redundant as some people were "so brainwashed" they could not recognise they were in a cult.
She instead suggested greater education and awareness, and a reporting system.
Any laws targeting high-control institutions would be "really coming after the Christian churches", Ms Yuen said.
The inquiry's committee chair, Ella George, stressed there was no proposal to recommend legislation specifically targeting Christian churches or any faith-based groups."
The selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not imply that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly endorse the content. We provide information from multiple perspectives to foster dialogue.
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