Opinion ID: 3165518
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Founding of UCI

Text: In a broad sense, the current dispute stems from the founding by Reverend Moon of the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (the “Unification Church”), in Seoul, South Korea, in 1954. In 1971, Reverend Moon moved from South Korea to the United States to expand the Unification Church’s 4 We here set forth the facts as alleged in the complaint. The defendants filed a counterclaim with a markedly different view of events. This counterclaim was eventually dismissed, creating finality for the instant appeals. 4 activities around the globe. Two years later, in 1975, Reverend Moon directed his close associate, Dr. Bo Hi Pak, to “open a bank account with Diplomat National Bank in the District of Columbia in the name of Unification Church International.” The first sum deposited in the account came from an account in Reverend Moon’s name, and additional funds were contributed by various other Unification Church entities. Reverend Moon “directed Dr. Pak to hold the funds in the [UCI] bank account in trust solely for the benefit and support of the Unification Church and its related activities.” As a key assertion, plaintiffs argue that Reverend Moon’s statements and actions demonstrate the intent to create an oral, charitable trust with Dr. Pak serving as the trust’s first trustee (“UCI Trust”). By 1977, approximately $7,000,000 had been donated and was held in the UCI bank account. Reverend Moon then directed Dr. Pak to establish a District of Columbia nonprofit corporation to implement the UCI Trust and carry out its purpose. Thus, UCI came into being in that year. Dr. Pak changed the UCI Trust’s bank account to reflect that the donated funds would be held by UCI, as opposed to the trust itself. Reverend Moon intended for this corporation to “implement the purposes of the trust and for the Directors of the Corporation to serve as trustees and ensure that the Corporation and its assets would be administered for the benefit of the Unification Church.” 5 The original February 1977 Articles of Incorporation are alleged to “reflect[] the purposes” of the corporation and “evidence” Reverend Moon’s intent. Specifically, Article 3, Section 2 of the Articles of Incorporation stated that the UCI will “serve as an international organization assisting, advising, coordinating, and guiding the activities of Unification Churches organized and operated throughout the world.” Furthermore, Section 3 stated that the UCI will “promote the worship of God, and to study, understand and teach the Divine Principle, the new revelation of God, and, through the practical application of the Divine Principle . . . achieve the interdenominational, interreligious, and international unification of world Christianity and all other religions.” Additionally, Article 9 also stated that the Directors of UCI “recognize and acknowledge that the Reverend Sun Myung Moon has provided the inspiration and spiritual leadership for the founding of the Corporation and is the spiritual leader of the international Unification Church movement.” Plaintiffs assert that the Divine Principle is the theological textbook of the Church and contains the essential teachings of Reverend Moon. 6 From 1977 to 2006, UCI operated without controversy.5 From 1977 through 1992, Dr. Pak, as the president of the corporation, managed the corporation’s assets, to which various entities, notably one in Japan that is a plaintiff in this action, donated “hundreds of millions of dollars” allegedly to be “held in trust” and used for the Church’s endeavors. Both Dr. Pak and plaintiff Dr. Douglas D.M. Joo, who served as President of UCI from 1992 to 2005, understood that the corporation held its assets to fund the Church’s activities. Things changed radically beginning in 2006, when Preston Moon,6 one of Reverend Moon’s sons, became the new president of the UCI as well as one of the five directors. Two years later, Reverend Moon appointed another son, Sean Moon, as the next leader of the Church’s worldwide religious organization. This appointment allegedly disappointed Preston Moon, who “resolved not to take direction from his younger brother Sean Moon in matters relating to UCI,” and led Preston Moon to take a series of actions to divest the Church of control over UCI and divert the corporation from its alleged mission and intended purpose. 5 In 1980, UCI gave up its original tax-free status. 6 The named defendant is “Hyun Jin Moon (a/k/a Preston Moon).” The complaint consistently refers to him as Preston Moon, and we follow that practice here because the complaint is the focus of attention. 7 Plaintiffs’ challenge to those actions by Preston Moon and the other directors is the subject of this law suit.