United States v. Sun Myung Moon

In 1984, Sun Myung Moon, the founder and leader of the Unification Church, was imprisoned in the United States after being found guilty by a jury of willfully filing false Federal income tax returns and conspiracy. Church members and supporters stated that the prosecution was politically motivated, discriminatory, and unfair.

On October 15, 1981, Moon was indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with three counts of willfully filing false Federal income tax returns (for the years 1973, 1974, and 1975) under 26 U.S.C. § 7206, and one count of conspiracy—under 18 U.S.C. § 371—to file false income tax returns, to obstruct justice, to make false statements to government officials, and to make false statements to a grand jury. The prosecutors charged that Moon failed to declare as income (and pay taxes on) $112,000 in earned interest in a Chase Manhattan bank account, and on the receipt of $50,000 of corporate stock. The essence of the prosecution's case was that both the money and stock were his personal property. The defense maintained that these were rather being held on behalf of the church. Moon transferred the bulk of the Chase account funds to the fledgling church upon its incorporation. He did not declare this transfer as a deduction on his income tax.

Holding church funds in a minister's name is fairly common, particularly in small churches, and some church-related or other organizations filed amicus curiae briefs in the case, including the Center for Law and Religious Freedom, the American Civil Liberties Union, the New York Civil Liberties Union, American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A., the National Council of Churches, the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the National Conference of Black Mayors, and the National Bar Association.

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