A South Korean medical professor who invented a digital device he claimed could transform tap water into holy water is facing fraud charges, Seoul police announced.
They said the professor claimed to have digitally captured the supposed curative powers of holy water on devices that he sold to more than 5,000 people for a total profit of nearly 1.7 billion won (US$1.3 million).
Eight other people including the professor’s wife and brother-in-law face charges for manufacturing and selling the devices, an officer heading the investigation told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Police said the 53-year-old professor claimed he obtained holy water from the shrine to the Virgin Mary at Lourdes — a world-famous Catholic pilgrimage site in France — and preserved its supposed healing powers in digital form.
He claimed to be able to digitally transfer those powers onto ceramic and paper filters and plastic cards used in water purifiers.
He and his associates allegedly told customers that different devices cured different illnesses including diabetes and tumors, but police say his claims don’t hold water.
The professor sold the ceramic filters, which cost 1,500 won in stores, for 40,000 won (US$33). Filters for insulin and cancer treatments sold for 90,000 won (US$73).
(AFP)
南韓首爾警方表示，該國一名醫學教授自稱發明了一種可將自來水轉化為聖水的數位儀器，現在他將面臨詐欺指控。
警方表示，這名教授宣稱已透過數位方式將聖水所含的療癒能量擷取到儀器中，受騙購買的民眾超過五千人，非法獲利近十七億韓元（一百三十萬美元）。
主導調查行動的一名警官匿名向法新社表示，包括教授妻子和妹夫在內的其餘八人，則被控製造及販售該設備。
警方表示，這名五十三歲的教授聲稱自己從世界知名天主教朝聖地──法國盧爾德市的聖母瑪利亞聖壇──取回聖水後，將其所謂的療癒能量轉化成數位格式保存。
他宣稱能把那些能量轉化至淨水器的陶、紙濾心及塑膠電路板上。
據傳，他和他的同夥告訴顧客，不同的儀器能治癒包括糖尿病和腫瘤在內的不同疾病，但警方表示他所言不實。
一般店家賣一千五百韓元的陶製濾心，這名教授賣四萬韓元（三十三美元）；治療糖尿病和癌症用的濾心則賣九萬韓元（七十三美元）。（法新社╱翻譯：林倩如）
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