TOKYO (AP) - A court ruled Monday that a cult led by a guru who claimed to see people's future by examining their feet had swindled followers and ordered it to pay more than $1 million in damages.
The Tokyo District Court ordered the Ho-no-Hana Sampogyo cult to pay $1.33 million to a group of 31 former members, said a court official who declined to be named.
It was the fourth time a Japanese court has found the neo-Buddhist sect and its charismatic founder, 55-year-old Hogen Fukunaga, liable for defrauding followers. Ho-no-Hana allegedly told people they would get cancer and other fatal diseases unless they took part in high-priced ``training sessions.''
The 31 plaintiffs said that they paid a total of $1.15 million to participate in various cult events between 1992 and 1996.
Judge Koichi Tsukuda was quoted Monday by public television broadcaster NHK as saying that Ho-no-Hana's activities were ``clearly illegal'' and ``departed from social norms.''
A lawyer for the plantiffs told The Associated Press that the cult targeted ``people whose worries made them vulnerable.''
``They were lied to and intimidated,'' said Hidenori Kamai.
Ho-no-Hana, which means ``teaching of the flower,'' was founded by Fukunaga in 1987. He claimed to have healing powers and to be able to see people's past and future by examining the soles of their feet. He once boasted 30,000 followers around Japan.
Known for his expensive suits and silver pompadour, Fukunaga resigned as the leader of Ho-no-Hana in January following a series of raids on cult facilities and media revelations about his opulent lifestyle.
He is now on trial facing charges of criminal fraud.
Japanese police have been cracking down on fringe religious groups since late last year, when a senior member of a doomsday cult involved in the 1995 nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subways was released from prison.
More than 1,200 people across Japan have filed suits against Ho-no-Hana, seeking a total of $57.6 million in damages. Three courts outside Tokyo have already ordered the cult to pay compensation to the victims.
The damages awarded Monday were the second largest to date, following $2.01 million that a court in southwestern Japan ordered the group to pay 27 ex-followers in April, Kamai said.
Ho-no-Hana spokesman Toru Mafune said he could not comment on Monday's ruling because he had not read it.
TOKYO - The Tokyo District Court on Monday ordered the Ho-no-Hana Sampogyo foot-reading cult and its founder Hogen Fukunaga to pay a total of 150 million yen in damages to 31 people who it swindled out of money by charging fees for ascetic training.
Presiding Judge Koichi Tsukuda said the cult ''concealed its religious nature and lured people into severe training sessions fraudulently and with the use of threats.''
He also pointed out that Fukunaga, 55, whose real first name is Teruyoshi, and Ho-no-Hana members personally used a large amount of money the cult forced the people to pay.
''The religious group's activities exceed conventional wisdom as it requested trainees to pay a huge amount of money and thus it is clear that those activities were illegal,'' Tsukuda said.
The plaintiffs had demanded a total of 157 million yen, saying the cult intimidated them by falsely claiming that they would get serious diseases such as cancer unless they participated in the group's expensive training sessions.
According to the ruling, the 31 plaintiffs took part in the cult's events between 1992 and 1996. The religious group inspected the soles of their feet and intimidated them by predicting the illnesses based on the inspections. The cult claimed that payments of millions of yen would cure the illnesses.
The suit was brought to the court in January 1997.
The plaintiffs' lawyers said the ruling was a ''complete victory'' because the court acknowledged the cult's system of swindling people of money.
Altogether, more than 1,200 people across Japan have filed suits against Ho-no-Hana, seeking a total of 6.5 billion yen in damages. Three courts in Fukuoka, Osaka and Akita prefectures have already ordered the cult to pay compensation to the victims.
The plaintiffs in those suits also demand the cult and Fukunaga himself be declared bankrupt so that their funds would not be diverted.
Fukunaga is now standing trial on fraud charges.
Fukunaga started preaching in 1980, claiming to be the world's final savior following Jesus Christ and the Buddha. He based his claim on what he called the ''voice of heaven.''
He has claimed he can read people's past and future by examining the soles of their feet. He resigned as the leader of Ho-no-Hana in January after the police search.
Ho-no-Hana has said it once had about 30,000 members.
OSAKA -- The Osaka District Court on Monday ordered the Honohana Sampogyo foot-reading cult and its founder to pay some 100 million yen in damages to 16 people, mainly in the Kinki region, whom the cult allegedly bilked out of millions of yen.
Judge Keisuke Hayashi handed down the sentence to the cult, based in Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture, and its founder and former leader Hogen Fukunaga, 55.
The ruling was the second in four days to go against the cult and Fukunaga, whose real name is Teruyoshi Fukunaga. On Friday, the Akita District Court ordered Fukunaga and the cult to pay 5.5 million yen in damages to an Akita woman who claimed to have been swindled out of millions of yen in 1994.
The 16 plaintiffs said in the suit that they were pressured into paying 82 million yen after foot-readers told them they would get cancer and would not be saved without attending the group's costly "training" sessions.
The 100 million yen in damages includes compensation, lawyers for the plaintiffs said.
Fukunaga pleaded not guilty to fraud at his first criminal trial hearing Oct. 12.
The Osaka District Court on Monday ordered the Ho-no-Hana Sanpogyo foot cult to pay 100 million yen to 16 people who were swindled by the cult.
Some of the victims, who live in Osaka and Hyogo prefectures, had been told by cult members that their diseases would be cured if they paid for and joined the cult's religious training session.
Presiding Judge Keisuke Hayashi handed down the ruling to the cult and its founder Hogen Fukunaga, 55.
``Their foot-readings and training were beyond the realm of religious activities and they are illegal,'' Hayashi said.
The cult was ordered by district courts in Fukuoka and Akita prefectures in previous lawsuits to pay nearly all of the damages claimed by the victims.
Currently, some 1,200 cult followers are taking action against the cult at eight other district courts, as well as at the Fukuoka High Court.
At the trial held at the Tokyo District Court on Monday, Fukunaga's mother admitted in her affidavit that her son did not have supernatural powers and that she knew the foot-reading was fraudulent.
In the affidavit, she said, ``When I was ill, he never cured me with his powers. I always went to the hospital.''
She also said that Fukunaga complained about his own foot ailments and often received foot massages from other members.
TOKYO (AP) - A Japanese court on Monday ordered a cult and its founder to pay $926,000 to 16 people who said they were told they would get cancer unless they joined the group.
The ruling by the Osaka District Court is the second against the Ho-no-Hana Sampogyo group and founder Hogen Fukunaga, who claimed to cure diseases by inspecting the soles of people's feet.
Another court on Friday ordered the cult to pay $51,000 to a woman who claimed she was defrauded in 1994.
In Monday's ruling, Presiding Judge Keisuke Hayashi said the group and its former leader used methods to solicit membership which were ``systematic and beyond the socially acceptable level and unlawful.''
The 16 plaintiffs said that they were forced to pay $759,000 and that Fukunaga said they would get cancer unless they joined him.
Fukunaga is charged with defrauding 31 people of $1.39 million between 1994 and 1997.
Japanese police have been cracking down on fringe religious groups since late last year, when a senior member of a doomsday cult involved in the 1995 nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subways was released from prison.
OSAKA, Nov. 13 (Kyodo) - The Osaka District Court on Monday ordered the Ho-no-Hana Sampogyo foot-reading cult and its founder to pay some 100 million yen in damages to a group of 16 people mainly in the Kinki region it defrauded out of millions of yen in the form of training fees and other unlawful means.
Presiding Judge Keisuke Hayashi handed down the sentence to the cult, based in Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture, and its founder and former leader Hogen Fukunaga, 55.
The ruling was the second in four days to go against the cult and Fukunaga, whose real name is Teruyoshi Fukunaga. On Friday, the Akita District Court in northeastern Japan ordered the cult and him to pay 5.5 million yen in damages to an Akita woman who claimed she was swindled out of millions yen in 1994.
Presiding Judge Hayashi said the cult's campaign to solicit membership was ''systematic and beyond the socially acceptable level and unlawful.''
The 16 plaintiffs said in the suit that they were ordered to pay a total of 82 million yen after being told through ''foot-reading exams'' that they would get cancer or not be saved without training.
The 100 million yen in damages includes compensation, lawyers for the plaintiffs said.
In total, Fukunaga has been charged with swindling 150 million yen from 31 people in conspiracies with other cult members from 1994 to 1997, mainly at the cult's headquarters in Fuji.
He pleaded not guilty to the allegations at his first hearing of a criminal trial at the Tokyo District Court on Oct. 12.
AKITA, Japan, Nov. 10 (Kyodo) - The Akita District Court on Friday ordered the Ho-no-Hana Sampogyo foot-reading cult and its founder to pay 5.5 million yen in damages to an Akita woman who claimed she was swindled out of millions yen in 1994.
Presiding Judge Masaki Sugimoto said founder Hogen Fukunaga, 55, pressured the woman in her 50s into paying a total of about 1.3 million yen to have her foot read in June 1994, telling her, ''You will have a serious disease in your 60s if you do not pay.''
Fukunaga also got her to pay 3.3 million yen the following month, telling her, ''You are worth being happier,'' and, ''Money will solve your problems,'' the ruling said.
Fukunaga has been charged with swindling a total of 150 million yen from 31 people in conspiracies with other cult members from 1994 to 1997, mainly at the cult's headquarters in Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan.
He pleaded not guilty to the allegations at his first hearing Oct. 12 at the Tokyo District Court. His real name is Teruyoshi Fukunaga.
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