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Abe shooter’s mother donated 100m yen to Unification Church

The Abe murder suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, has told investigators that his family was financially ruined due to his mother's large donations to the religious group, which he believed Abe had links to. (Kyodo News via AP)
The Abe murder suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, has told investigators that his family was financially ruined due to his mother's large donations to the religious group, which he believed Abe had links to. (Kyodo News via AP)
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15 Jul 2022 01:07:08 GMT9
15 Jul 2022 01:07:08 GMT9

TOKYO: The mother of the man suspected of fatally shooting former Japanese Prime Minister ABE Shinzo last week donated about 100 million yen to the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, better known as the Unification Church, the man’s uncle told reporters Friday.

The Abe murder suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, has told investigators that his family was financially ruined due to his mother’s large donations to the religious group, which he believed Abe had links to.

The mother became a follower of the church in 1991, after her husband’s suicide, and at the same time donated 20 million yen to the church, the uncle said, adding that she donated 30 million yen soon afterward and 10 million yen a few years later. All the money came from payments she received from a life insurance policy on her husband, the uncle said.

The mother inherited assets including land plots from her father and sold them to donate an extra 40 million yen to the church, the uncle said.

Meanwhile, the Unification Church has said that the mother joined the group around 1998.

The uncle also said that Yamagami attempted suicide when he was working as a fixed-term member of the Maritime Self-Defense Force as he wanted to leave money from his life insurance policy for his brother and sister, who were financially strapped.

JIJI Press

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