Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2002, Page 61
Membership
Wiseman and his wife, Jean, live at the Twelve Tribes' Jog Run Farm in suburban West Palm
Beach, the nearest of the sect's 29 communities around the world. Most are in the
Northeast states. Like about 3,000 Tribes people, the Wisemans have given up their worldly
possessions, dress in humble attire and share dwellings and earnings with other believers.
Some take up new Hebrew names Wiseman is known as Hakam, which he said means
"wise man" in Hebrew. About 50 others live at the five-acre ranch lushly landscaped with
oleander and bougainvillea and palms. The group makes a living trimming trees and selling
firewood, but also maintains a plant nursery, fruit trees, and vegetable gardens. Earnings
maintain the community. Children are home-schooled and apprenticed to learn skills — and
spanked when parents see fit.
Tribes members elsewhere have faced allegations and charges regarding treatment of
children but rarely have been prosecuted, Pardon said. In 1984, a police raid took 112
children from a Vermont community for questioning but quickly released them. "The group
has traditionally fallen through the cracks," he said. "They really skirt the edges of the law
in many ways. [The Twelve Tribes recently entered into an agreement with the New York
State Attorney General and paid a fine for using underage children in their furniture
factory.] (Drew Sternwald, News-Press.com, 4/26/02)
Unification Church
Brazilian Authorities Raid Moon-linked Offices
Brazilian Federal police have carried out a series of raids, seizing documents and computers
linked to Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s organization in Brazil. The raids, which occurred
simultaneously at several sites in Sao Paulo and far western Mato Grosso do Sul states,
were part of a broad investigation into allegations of tax evasion and immigration violations
by Moon‘s organization, federal police said.
―Although formally established in this country as a philanthropic entity, the Association of
Families for Unification and World Peace has developed a diverse program, generating
worries and a high level of doubt in relation to their true objectives,‖ the statement read.
Also raided were the Association‘s Sao Paulo headquarters and the residence and offices of
Moon‘s No. 1 man in Brazil, Rev. Kim Yoon-sang. The Brazilian Intelligence Agency, which
fears Moon‘s operations threaten national sovereignty, also is investigating its activities.
The Association‘s lawyer, Neudir Simao Ferabolli, whose house was among those raided,
called the police action ―a total abuse of authority. ..We are not a criminal organization and
there was no reason to mount this total farce,‖ he told the Associated Press by telephone
from Jardim, some 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) southwest of Rio de Janeiro.
The federal police began investigating Moon‘s organization after a former employee alleged
the association was involved in money laundering. A federal judge authorized the seizure of
the association‘s banking records and financial information earlier this year.
According to Brazil‘s Federal Police, Moon, the 81-year-old founder and leader of the
Unification Church, has accumulated at least 43,000 hectares (106,000 acres) of land in
Mato Grosso do Sul over the past seven years. He has also been acquiring large tracts of
land across the border in Paraguay, including a 350,000-hectare (865,000 acre) area that
includes the entire town of Jardim, a ranching center of about 20,000 people near the
Paraguayan border. (Michael Astor, AP, 5/8/02)
Membership
Wiseman and his wife, Jean, live at the Twelve Tribes' Jog Run Farm in suburban West Palm
Beach, the nearest of the sect's 29 communities around the world. Most are in the
Northeast states. Like about 3,000 Tribes people, the Wisemans have given up their worldly
possessions, dress in humble attire and share dwellings and earnings with other believers.
Some take up new Hebrew names Wiseman is known as Hakam, which he said means
"wise man" in Hebrew. About 50 others live at the five-acre ranch lushly landscaped with
oleander and bougainvillea and palms. The group makes a living trimming trees and selling
firewood, but also maintains a plant nursery, fruit trees, and vegetable gardens. Earnings
maintain the community. Children are home-schooled and apprenticed to learn skills — and
spanked when parents see fit.
Tribes members elsewhere have faced allegations and charges regarding treatment of
children but rarely have been prosecuted, Pardon said. In 1984, a police raid took 112
children from a Vermont community for questioning but quickly released them. "The group
has traditionally fallen through the cracks," he said. "They really skirt the edges of the law
in many ways. [The Twelve Tribes recently entered into an agreement with the New York
State Attorney General and paid a fine for using underage children in their furniture
factory.] (Drew Sternwald, News-Press.com, 4/26/02)
Unification Church
Brazilian Authorities Raid Moon-linked Offices
Brazilian Federal police have carried out a series of raids, seizing documents and computers
linked to Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s organization in Brazil. The raids, which occurred
simultaneously at several sites in Sao Paulo and far western Mato Grosso do Sul states,
were part of a broad investigation into allegations of tax evasion and immigration violations
by Moon‘s organization, federal police said.
―Although formally established in this country as a philanthropic entity, the Association of
Families for Unification and World Peace has developed a diverse program, generating
worries and a high level of doubt in relation to their true objectives,‖ the statement read.
Also raided were the Association‘s Sao Paulo headquarters and the residence and offices of
Moon‘s No. 1 man in Brazil, Rev. Kim Yoon-sang. The Brazilian Intelligence Agency, which
fears Moon‘s operations threaten national sovereignty, also is investigating its activities.
The Association‘s lawyer, Neudir Simao Ferabolli, whose house was among those raided,
called the police action ―a total abuse of authority. ..We are not a criminal organization and
there was no reason to mount this total farce,‖ he told the Associated Press by telephone
from Jardim, some 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) southwest of Rio de Janeiro.
The federal police began investigating Moon‘s organization after a former employee alleged
the association was involved in money laundering. A federal judge authorized the seizure of
the association‘s banking records and financial information earlier this year.
According to Brazil‘s Federal Police, Moon, the 81-year-old founder and leader of the
Unification Church, has accumulated at least 43,000 hectares (106,000 acres) of land in
Mato Grosso do Sul over the past seven years. He has also been acquiring large tracts of
land across the border in Paraguay, including a 350,000-hectare (865,000 acre) area that
includes the entire town of Jardim, a ranching center of about 20,000 people near the
Paraguayan border. (Michael Astor, AP, 5/8/02)
