Family Federation USA Statement re. UCI Court Case
Family Federation USA Statement
Regarding UCI Court Case
Click here to open the statement in pdf.
November 3, 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
True Parents founded Unification Church International in 1977 to support Unification Churches throughout around the world. However, in 2009, Preston Hyun Jin Moon and certain Unification Church International board members began to take things in a different direction. In April 2010, they went so far as to amend the Articles of Incorporation to remove all references to the Unification Church and the Divine Principle and rename the corporation “UCI”. Substantial amounts of assets were then transferred from UCI into Kingdom Investments Foundation (KIF), a corporation set up in Switzerland at roughly the same time as UCI’s articles were amended.
In response, Family Federation for World Peace and Unification International and four other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit aimed at recovering UCI and ensuring that it operates according to the original purposes for which True Parents established it. On October 30, 2018, the United States Superior Court of the District of Columbia issued an Omnibus Order which made a number of determinations. Among them are the following:
1) When Preston Moon and the other directors of the UCI board amended UCI’s Articles of Incorporation, they “substantially altered UCI’s corporate purposes by eliminating any obligation to the Unification Church.” For that reason, plaintiffs are entitled to summary judgment “that the amendments to the . . . Articles constituted a breach of fiduciary duty.”
2) Preston Moon and the other directors “engaged in corporate transactions contrary to UCI’s original corporate purposes by donating assets to KIF and providing monetary support to GPF [an entity establish by Preston Moon, Global Peace Foundation], organizations expressly and distinctly separate from the Unification Church.” For that reason, plaintiffs are entitled to summary judgment “that these transactions constitute breaches of the individual defendants’ fiduciary duty.”
As a result of these rulings, the wrongfulness of the conduct of Preston Moon and the other director defendants has been established. Although the legal process will continue with regard to related issues, this outcome is a significant affirmation of the legal merits of the case. What remains is for the Court to fashion an appropriate remedy to restore the UCI board and assets.
Thank you to all of our members around the world for their prayers and sincere devotion. We will continue to advise you of the progress of the litigation.
God Bless you,
Dr. Ki Hoon Kim
Regional Chairman
Rev. Richard Buessing
President