Tag Archives: david cho

J. Lee Grady Speaks Out About The David Yonggi Cho Scandal

10 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by in C3 & Pringles Associations, C3 Asheville Scandal

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Well City Harvest Church has made it clear they are standing with the convicted David Yonggi Cho of Yoidi Full Gospel Church. While Reformed, Charismatic or Pentecostal leaders continue to voice their concerns over Yonggi Cho, what will Phil Pringle do? His silence is deafening.

C3 does not  need to repeat the mistake they made with the notorious Nick Dimitris of C3 Church Asheville. Will C3 stand united behind another convicted felon for the sake of ‘unity’?

In fact, this article by Grady sounds as though it could have been written to Phil Pringle directly. (We wish to advise caution when reading this piece. We do not agree with Grady’s view. A false teacher like David Yonggi Cho is called by scripture an “impostor going from bad to worse”. He is not a Christian brother and should be excommunicated for his pagan gospel.)

Lee Grady weighed in to the issue with this piece:

6 Ways to Prevent an Embarrassing Ministry Scandal

The recent sentencing of Dr. Yonggi Cho of South Korea is a reminder that we need a fresh commitment to integrity.

I was devastated to learn last week that South Korean megachurch pastor David Yonggi Cho was found guilty of embezzling $12 million in church funds. I was aware that the famous hero of faith was struggling with problems at his massive congregation, Yoido Full Gospel Church, which is in Seoul. Cho’s 56-year effort to build what is now the world’s largest church made him one of the most respected spiritual fathers in the Pentecostal movement.

Some American leaders knew that Cho’s problems were linked to his son Cho Hee-jun, who was also convicted and sentenced to three years in prison for his role in an elaborate stock scheme that involved millions of dollars of church money. Hee-jun was immediately jailed. Thankfully, the elder Cho will not have to serve his prison sentence (it was suspended), but he will have to pay a $4.7 million fine.

I still respect Dr. Cho. A former Buddhist, he had a dramatic conversion to Jesus and was used by the Holy Spirit to bring the gospel to a nation that for centuries was closed to Christianity. Cho remains a legend. But the events of last week serve to remind us that even the greatest spiritual giants have feet of clay, and even the biggest ministries can fall into scandal if principles of integrity are not practiced.

This seems the best time to offer the simple reminders below. Today a new generation of megachurch pastors and ministry leaders has emerged, and this generation may not be aware that a few wrong moves could put them in the middle of the next big ministry scandal. If you are a leader, please post these rules in your board room, in your CEO’s office and in your ministry’s employee manual. If you are not in leadership, please pray that these rules are followed at your church, no matter how big it is:

1. Never build a cult of personality. The top reason ministries fail is that the organization starts revolving around a person instead of Christ. I don’t care how gifted or anointed the leader is—if he (or she) allows others to put him on a pedestal or if he climbs there himself, a fall is coming. Paul told the Corinthians, “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11, NASB). Paul didn’t build his ministry on himself. In addition, he shared the spotlight with his successor, Timothy, and his other team members. If a leader can’t share power, he is headed toward disaster.

2. Develop a culture of openness. Healthy ministries encourage staff members and church members to give input. I’ve found that in ministries that experienced scandal, employees constantly felt intimidated, controlled or even threatened. Did you know that the word occult comes from a Latin word that means “secret” or “covered up”? Ministries that engage in cover-up or secrecy are not managing their work in a Christian manner.

3. Insist on financial transparency. Churches and ministries are funded by donors, and donors have a God-given right to know that their funds are being used properly. Ministry leaders also have a God-given stewardship, and they must acknowledge that the funds given to them are not for personal gain. All financial transactions of a ministry should be scrutinized by designated leaders (including an outside accountant) to prevent corruption.

4. Don’t build a family dynasty. There is nothing in the Bible that says a Christian leader is supposed to turn his ministry over to his family. And nepotism is often the cause of financial scandal. If a leader stacks his board or church staff with family members, they will be tempted to make financial decisions that benefit themselves. And in many cases, parents who employ their children find it difficult to bring correction when there are serious offenses.

5. Beware of creating a greed monster. In today’s megachurches, huge amounts of money begin to roll in on Sundays—and if leaders are not careful, this kind of success can eventually destroy them. We must remember that God entrusts us with these funds in order to engage in the work of ministry, not to provide leaders with mansions, luxury vehicles, bodyguards, private jets, shopping allowances and second or third homes. When you feed greed, it will always come back to bite you. I personally believe that pastors and ministry leaders should voluntarily put a cap on their salaries instead of insisting on being treated like corporate bigshots.

6. Never tolerate a spirit of entitlement. Financial blessing can affect people in dramatically different ways. One person can humbly receive it, thank God for it and live in constant gratefulness and humility. The next person can accept the blessing and then begin to think they deserve royal treatment. This spirit of entitlement can invade a church or ministry subtly at first, until leaders begin to make demands. I once knew a preacher who asked to be driven from her hotel to the conference in a limousine—yet the distance was less than one block! This insane behavior should be confronted, not coddled.

Paul told his spiritual son Timothy that church leaders must be “free from the love of money” (1 Tim. 3:3) in order to assume that responsibility. We would do well to revisit that mandate today. Instead of tarnishing ourselves with another scandal, let’s show the world that we can handle money properly.

J. Lee Grady is the former editor of Charisma and the director of the Mordecai Project(themordecaiproject.org). You can follow him on Twitter at @leegrady. He is the author of 10 Lies Men Believe and other books.

Source: By J. Lee Grady, 6 Ways to Prevent an Embarrassing Ministry Scandal, Charisma Magazine, http://www.charismamag.com/blogs/fire-in-my-bones/19870-6-ways-to-prevent-an-embarrassing-ministry-scandal, Published 9:46AM EST /26/02/2014. (Accessed 10/30/2014.)

Kong Hee & Phil Pringle’s Mentor David Yonggi Cho Convicted For Tax Evasion

21 Friday Feb 2014

Posted by in C3 & Pringles Associations

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‘Ps’ David Yonggi Cho said earlier in the investigations that he, “denied… allegations, calling them a smear campaign by a very small group of people in his church. ‘The truth will reveal itself during the prosecutors’s investigation. Those who filed the complaint will have to take responsibility accordingly.”

Well now the truth is out in the open and perhaps Yonggi Cho will now bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Will he ask for forgiveness from his own elders who made the original claims?

This blame shifting is typical in the WOF community. We only need to look across the water to Singapore and Kong Hee, who waits his own judgement. The same Kong Hee who claims to be mentored by both David Yonggi Cho and Phil Pringle.

Hee and Pringle are also board members of Church Growth International founded by Yonggi Cho. Scroll down link below and see other “interesting” names included on this board: Benny Hinn, Marilyn Hickey, Casey Treat etc.

The Summer Church Growth Magazine

There is much “tweeting” and many “leadership” FB comments making the rounds these days lately about choosing your companions wisely. Phil Pringle tweets,

Ldrshp Mxm – ‘Make friends wit grt ppl’
Pr 12:26 T righteous shld choose frnds carefully 4 t way f t wicked leads them astray
#YouTheLeader

Source: Phil Pringle, Twitter, https://twitter.com/philpringle/status/432217337866244098, 10:20 AM – 8 Feb 2014. (Accessed 22/02/2014.)

proof_TwitterPringleAssociates_22-02-2014

Need we say more?

Korea Joongang Daily reports…

Pastor and his son convicted in tax evasion case

A Seoul court yesterday convicted the Rev. Cho Yong-gi, the founder of Korea’s biggest church, and his oldest son, Cho Hee-jun, of breach of trust and tax evasion, causing 13.1 billion won ($12.1 million) in losses for the Yoido Full Gospel Church.

The Seoul Central District Court handed down the senior Cho a three-year prison term, which was suspended for five years, and ordered him to pay 5 billion won in fines.

It also sentenced his son to three years behind bars, which he was ordered to begin serving immediately.

Presiding Judge Cho Yong-hyun said in verdict deliberations that because of Cho’s status as a top decision-maker within the church, the pastor emeritus must have approved the irregularities or deliberately stayed quiet, thereby signaling his approval.

The court also ruled that the elder Cho, hailed as the father of Korean evangelicalism and known for his conservative stance on social issues, evaded an inheritance tax worth 3.6 billion won, which the court said will be collected by the state.

“Considering how the defendant has led his life in tumultuous times, and contributions he has made to society as a religious man, the court has decided to suspend his prison term for five years,” the judge explained.

The 78-year-old pastor founded the giant red-bricked Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul in 1973, after which it grew into one of the world’s largest Christian congregations, with more than 800,000 members currently registered.

Cho stood trial on charges that he ordered church officials in 2002 to purchase 250,000 shares of stock for I-Service, a company owned by his oldest son, at a price four times higher than market value, causing the church to lose 13.1 billion won.

Prosecutors argued that Cho’s son, 49, had asked his father to purchase the shares at a much higher cost to recoup the 20 billion won he lost in stock investments two years earlier – a claim the court accepted yesterday.

Cho Hee-jun apparently lost that sum while serving as chairman of the Kookmin Ilbo, when he collected billions of won in donations from readers and church members to help cover the newspaper’s operating costs.

The courtroom was packed with church members throughout the 90-minute sentencing, a testament to the influence the Cho family wielded in the mega-church.

While delivering the three-year prison term for the former newspaper chairman, the judge rebuked the younger Cho for attempting to shift the responsibility for his unethical business practices onto his father and other senior church members.

“The defendant’s behavior is subject to and deserves criticism,” Judge Cho said.”

Source: By Kang Jin-Kyu, Pastor and his son convicted in tax evasion case, Korea Joongang Daily, http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2985272&cloc=joongangdaily, Published 21/02/2014. (Accessed 22/02/2014.)

Related articles:

David Yonggi Cho Church Fraud Investigation? (Part 1)

David Yonggi Cho Church Fraud Investigation? (Part 2)

David Yonggi Cho Church Fraud Investigation? (Part 3)

David Yonggi Cho Church Fraud Investigation? (Part 4)

David Yonggi Cho Church Fraud Investigation? (Part 5) – Sex Scandal Included?

Ps David Yonggi Cho of Yoido Full Gospel Church Sentenced “Three Years In Prison, Suspended For Five Years, And … To Pay 5 billion Won”

Ps David Yonggi Cho of Yoido Full Gospel Church Sentenced “Three Years In Prison, Suspended For Five Years, And … To Pay 5 billion Won”

21 Friday Feb 2014

Posted by in C3 & Pringles Associations

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The golden prosperity triangle is falling. While Phil Pringle’s protege Kong Hee is still going through court procedures of mishandling church funds of up to $40 million US, their mentor David Yonggi Cho has been sentenced “to three years in prison, suspended for five years, and ordered… to pay 5 billion won (US$4.67 million) in fines”.

Don’t forget that Cho said earlier in the investigations that he, “denied the allegations, calling them a smear campaign by a very small group of people in his church. ‘The truth will reveal itself during the prosecutors’s investigation. Those who filed the complaint will have to take responsibility accordingly.”

Not only did David Yonggi Cho smear his elders (what Kong Hee and Phil Pringle would call critics), he relies on the courts to reveal “the truth” rather deal with it biblically within the church. We have see this similar behaviour in the C3 movement and CHC. It is of our opinion that events like these reinforce the obvious factor that such men like Phil Pringle, Kong Hee and David Yonggi Cho do not behave honestly in the church.

And for teachers who always teach on faith, where is it now?

The Hankyoreh reports,

Yoido Full Gospel church leaders found guilty of tax evasion

yonggi cho jailed

Yoido Full Gospel Church senior pastor David Yonggi Cho is surrounded by supporters and bodyguards as he leaves Seoul District Court in Seocho district after being sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for five years, and ordered him to pay 5 billion won (US$4.67 million) in fines, Feb. 20. Cho’s bodyguards kept reporters away from Cho, struck a female reporter and destroyed a camera belong to KBS. (by Kim Bong-gyu, staff photographer)

Senior pastor David Yonggi Cho gets lighter sentence on account of his religious activities

On Feb. 20, Hon. Cho Yong-hyun with the 23rd criminal division of the Seoul District Court sentenced David Yonggi Cho, 78, senior pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church, to three years in prison, suspended for five years, and ordered him to pay 5 billion won (US$4.67 million) in fines. Cho was charged with causing around 13.1 billion won in damages to his church and evading approximately 3.5 billion won in taxes in the process (embezzlement as defined in the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes). In addition, Pastor Cho’s oldest son Cho Hee-jun, 49, former chairman of the Yeongsan Christian Culture Center, was given a three-year prison sentence and taken into custody.

“The criminal activity would have been impossible without the approval of Pastor Cho, who had ultimate decision-making authority,” the court ruled. “By condoning the documents that were being written while he was the head of the church, he was largely responsible for these crimes.”

The court also took into consideration the fact that Pastor Cho has contributed to social welfare over the years as a religious figure, which it explained as the reason for his lenient sentence.

The court sentenced Cho Hee-jun to actual time in prison, regarding him as the mastermind behind most of the crimes, including dereliction of duty.

Cho was indicted in 2013 on charges of professional negligence and tax evasion. At the request of his son, Cho allegedly had Yoido Full Gospel Church purchase 250,000 shares of stock in I-Service held by the Yeongsan Christian Culture Center at 86,984 won per share, even though the shares were only worth 34,386 won each, resulting in a 13.1 billion won loss for the church. When a gift tax was imposed on the church’s expensive stock purchase, Cho allegedly submitted documents to the tax authorities depicting the transaction as a normal loan, evading 3.5 billion won in taxes.

Source: By Kim Mi-hyang, Senior pastor David Yonggi Cho gets lighter sentence on account of his religious activities, The Hankyoreh, http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/625270.html, 21/02/2014. (Accessed 21/02/2014.)

Related articles:

David Yonngi Cho Church Fraud Investigation? (Part 1)

David Yonngi Cho Church Fraud Investigation? (Part 2)

David Yonggi Cho Church Fraud Investigation? (Part 3)

David Yonggi Cho Church Fraud Investigation? (Part 4)

David Yonggi Cho Church Fraud Investigation? (Part 5) – Sex Scandal Included?

David Yonggi Cho Church Fraud Investigation? (Part 5) – Sex Scandal Included?

26 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by in C3 & Pringles Associations

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Phil Pringle’s protege Kong Hee is facing allegations for mishandling church funds of up to US$50 million.

And now for a good while Phil Pringle’s mentor David Yonggi Cho has been under investigation for financial misconduct. Allegations have surfaced from his elders claiming that Yonggi Cho has mishandled church funds of up to US$500 million.

You heard that right. “… elders are accusing the Chos of embezzling as much as US$500 million or more in church money.”

Please read what we have covered on this incident in these previous articles:

David Yonngi Cho Church Fraud Investigation? (Part 1)

David Yonngi Cho Church Fraud Investigation? (Part 2)

David Yonggi Cho Church Fraud Investigation? (Part 3)

David Yonggi Cho Church Fraud Investigation? (Part 4)

Before reading this article, ask yourself this question – who is Kong Hee, Phil Pringle and David Yonggi Cho accountable too?

The Hankyoreh reports,

Yoido Full Gospel Church elders make explosive allegations of massive corruption

Senior pastor David Yonggi Cho accused of siphoning off millions in church funds; his camp denies the allegations

By Cho Yeon-hyun, religion correspondent

30 elders from Yoido Full Gospel Church, the world’s largest megachurch, held a press conference at the Korea Ecumenical Building in Seoul’s Jongno district on Nov. 14 to allege that senior pastor David Yonggi Cho and his family funneled off hundreds of billions of won from church donations.

Yoido Full Gospel Church (left) and senior pastor David Yonggi Cho

The sheer scale of the amounts alleged by the elders to have been misappropriated is beyond the imagination. The elders made public a report from an investigation into three alleged improprieties by Cho made by a special investigation committee and ethics committee formed within the church last year. This time around, the allegations came from members of a group called the Prayer Meeting for Correcting the Church, including elders Kim Dae-jin and Kim Seok-kyun.

First, they claim that Cho returned only 64.3 billion won (US$60.2 million) of the 163.3 billion won (US$152.9 million) he borrowed from the church while building the CCMM Building between 1992 and 1998, when he was chairman of the church‘s Mission Society. The remaining 99 billion won (US$92.7 million), they say, was never returned.

By the elders’ account, construction payments of 28.5 billion won (US$26.7 million) and 16.6 billion won (US$15.5 million) were made at the time to Next Media Corporation and Facility Management Korea, companies managed by Cho’s eldest son Hee-jun.

It is also being claimed that Cho’s third son Seung-jae’s International Club Management Group bought three floors of the building from the church for 29.5 billion won (US$27.6 million) and sold them back three years later for 37.2 billion won (US$34.8 million) – pocketing the difference of 7.7 billion won (US$7.2 million).

In addition to allegedly appropriating 34.2 billion won (US$32 million) in Kukmin Ilbo newspaper lifetime reader memberships from 50,000 people for stock investments, Cho Hee-jun was also accused by the elders of making off with a total of 240 billion won (US$224.7 million) in assets related to the church.

They also claimed that David Cho’s wife Kim Sung-hae, president of Hansei University, has yet to account for 10.5 billion won (US$9.8 million) paid by the church as support for Bethesda Christian University, an institution she runs in the US. The elders also view US real estate purchased by the university for around US$15 million as having been bought with church money.

In total, the elders are accusing the Chos of embezzling as much as US$500 million or more in church money.

Associates of David Yonggi Cho insisted he had “no connection with any direct exchanges of money.”

Kim Sung-hae’s camp said the details of the Bethesda Christian University situation would be brought to light by prosecutors, who are currently investigating, but added that the elders’ claims were “merely allegations, not facts, and not worth responding to each one.”

The most explosive part of the allegations is the sheer amount of money supposedly received by David Yonggi Cho. The elders claim he received a severance payment of 20 billion won (US$18.7 million) when he stepped down as head pastor in 2008 – and that even that was decided without their knowledge or any voting by major church decision-making bodies. They also said no information was available on the whereabouts of 12 billion won (US$11.2 million) a year paid between 2004 and 2008 – 60 billion won in total – for “special missionary expenses.”

The elders gave a yearly total of 100 billion to 120 billion won (US$93.6-112.3 million) in donations received by the church. This would mean the annual amount taken in by the headquarters dropped by almost half from about 200 billion won a year when Cho spun off the Jisungjun center in downtown Seoul around the time he handed over senior pastor duties to Lee Young-hoon in 2008. Nevertheless, it remains the largest amount received in donations by any religious body in South Korea.

The elders also claim that Cho continued controlling the church even after his “retirement” by making decisions as “governor” – to the point where his successor Lee had difficulty exercising his authority on appointments and finances.

One of the former elders at the press conference, Ha Sang-ok, previously admitted to taking part in giving 1.5 billion won (US$1.4 million) while collecting the book “Madame Butterfly in Paris” from a female vocalist in France named Jeong who anonymously wrote the account about an affair with Cho.

“A sect leader might violate the commandments and do as he wishes, but a pastor cannot do that,” Ha said. “Over the past 14 years, I have met with Rev. Cho many times to try to persuade him to repent and return to being a great pastor, but the corruption has continued. That‘s why I had no choice but to disclose it to the outside world.”

The elders also made public a statement allegedly made by Cho saying he would give Jeong 1.5 billion won in exchange for her making no future mention of their extramarital relationship, along with copies of receipts for the two transactions totaling 3 billion won.

The church’s public relations office said the claims were “a personal matter that the church has no comment on.”

Lee Won-gun, an elder who functions as Cho’s “chief of staff,” said Cho is “unconcerned with money, to the point where I’ve never once seen him talk about giving money or not giving money to somebody.”

“There will be a response from this side after looking at the elders’ claims,” Lee added.

Cho is currently on trial for alleged causing 15.7 billion won (US$14.7 million) in damages to the church by instructing it to buy 250,000 shares of his eldest son’s stocks at a rate four times market value.

During the press conference, a physical altercation occurred when a number of Cho’s supporters attempted to rush the platform at the press conference and accused the elders of “insulting” the pastor.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

From: By Cho Yeon-hyun, Yoido Full Gospel Church elders make explosive allegations of massive corruption, The Hankyoreh, http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/611326.html, Published 15/11/2013. (Accessed 22/12/2013.)