The spiritual leader of a Chinese Buddhist sect is to be prosecuted for financial and sexual offenses, state media said yesterday, as Beijing intensifies its crackdown on what it calls “dangerous cults.”
Wu Zeheng (吳澤恆), the leader of the Hua Zang Dharma group, is to face a number of charges, including rape and using a cult “to sabotage law enforcement,” Xinhua news agency reported.
Xinhua also said several other “suspected cult members” would face prosecution following a year-long investigation.
Supporters of Wu have said in overseas media that he is being persecuted.
Wu seduced dozens of women by telling them sex with him could give them “supernatural powers,” the Xinhua report said.
The 47-year-old was arrested in July last year with “a young woman in pajamas” inside a locked bedroom, it added.
The report cited one follower who said she had been repeatedly raped and had become pregnant three times, but was forced to have abortions.
The police probe showed Wu had amassed an illegal fortune of more than 6.9 million yuan (US$1.1 million), according to Xinhua, which also said he would be prosecuted for “fraud, and production and sale of harmful food.”
He raised money by selling paintings with “holy power” and “blessed” stamps, as well as running a restaurant in Shenzhen, where he claimed the food was cooked with “precious” ingredients.
Xinhua said prominent monks had denied any links with Wu and that most of his writings turned out to be “plagiarisms or unlawful.”
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