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Cult told to pay followers for false cures (04/29/2001)
TOKYO: A Japanese cult that cheated followers by getting them to
pay for "cures" after claiming cancer and other ailments
could be diagnosed by examining their feet was ordered yesterday
to pay compensation.
The Ho-no-Hana Sampogyo cult and its leader Teruyoshi Fukunaga,
55, were ordered to pay 227.2 million yen (US$2.14 million) to 27
followers, said a court official in Fukuoka, western Japan.
Believers were told to buy religious goods and have expensive training
to ensure they were cured, the court heard.
More than 1,000 other followers have sued the cult - whose name
means Flower of Law and Three Law Practice - for around 5 billion
yen in damages.
Fukunaga and his disciples, whose headquarters are at the foot
of Mount Fuji, have no licence to practice medicine but say they
can diagnose people's health and predict their future by examining
their feet.
Kyodo news agency said the group would appeal after its argument
that such actions were religious was rejected.
The ruling comes amid persistent public anxiety in Japan over cults.
Last November, police found the mummified body of a 66-year-old
follower of the Life Space cult in a hotel.
His family claimed he was still alive and being treated for a brain
hemorrhage by getting pats on the head from guru Koji Takahashi,
who was later arrested and charged with murder.
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