Rev. Moon indicted on US tax charge

October 16, 1981

The Rev. Sun Myung Moon, leader of the controversial Unification Church, was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiring to defraud the US government by income tax evasion.

The indictment alleged that the Korean-born evangelist, founder of the church whose members are known as "Moonies," had not reported $112,000 in interest earned on bank account deposits from 1973 to 1975.

The indictment said he had deposited about $1.6 millio, chiefly in cash, into bank accounts that were solely in his name. It added that he used these funds for his own and personal business purposes but failed to report the income.