The third son of Moon Sun-myung, the founder and leader of the controversial Unification Church, has filed a lawsuit against his mother to get back his company’s money allegedly sent to her missionary group without his consent, court officials said yesterday.

Moon Hyun-jin, 42, chairman of Unification Church International, the parent company of Washington Times Aviation Inc. (WTA), demanded 23.8 billion won ($22.3 million) in illegal profits be returned in the suit filed in January against the missionary foundation of the Unification Church, they said. The missionary group is run by his mother, Han Hak-ja, 68.

“The former WTA president Joo Dong-moon made three transfers totaling 23.8 billion won from the company’s account to the missionary foundation without permission after he was fired in October 2009,” the younger Moon claimed in a statement submitted to the Seoul Western District Court. “The foundation should return the money.”

The younger Moon lodged the civil case after the Seoul court put the money under provisional attachment in 2009, court officials said. Moon Sun-myung, 91, is one of the world’s most controversial religious figures.

The church claims to have three million members worldwide.


Yonhap