FORMER EXECUTIVE ACCUSED OF EMBEZZLING OVER ONE MILLION DOLLARS IN SEVEN YEAR SCHEME

Hwan Chul Seong Allegedly Used Church Credit Card To Purchase $100,000 In Gold Bars From Costco

A former executive director at a Korean church in Bothell, Washington has been accused of embezzling $1,136,866 from the congregation over a seven year period by manipulating church finances and using a church credit card to purchase gold bars.

Hwan Chul Seong served as executive director of Community Church of Seattle, also known as Seattle's Brethren Church, where he oversaw finances for both the church and its affiliated school, UCIC. The church operates three campuses in the Seattle area and is the largest Korean church in the Pacific Northwest.

Senior Pastor Kwon Jun announced the findings of an investigation during a congregational meeting on November 16, 2025. A fact finding committee formed by the church discovered that Seong embezzled the funds through various methods including transferring money between personal accounts, inflating fees, falsifying bank statements, and making unauthorized purchases.

According to the Korea Times, Seong used a church credit card to purchase more than $100,000 in gold bars from Costco on multiple occasions. He later claimed he paid the amount back to the church from his personal funds, but the church's investigation found he never made the payment.

The church parted ways with Seong in the summer of 2025 after discovering the misappropriated funds. Church leaders then created a fact finding committee to conduct a deeper investigation into church finances managed by Seong.

Elder Park Yu shin, who was in charge of the investigation, stated at a joint council meeting that Seong embezzled the total amount "over seven years through various methods, such as withdrawing cash with a card, using it for personal use, inflating fees, and inflating the amount itself."

The investigation concluded that Seong began embezzling from the church in 2018 and gradually increased the amount of funds he was misappropriating over time, according to KBS WATV.

Community Church is planning to report Seong's alleged activity to law enforcement and file a civil lawsuit against him. The Roys Report contacted Bothell police for comment but did not receive a response.

In a statement issued to the Korea Times, the church claimed no pastors assisted Seong in his alleged embezzlement and stated the church "prioritizes financial transparency and will handle this case thoroughly and fairly."

The case joins a troubling pattern of church embezzlement cases across the United States in 2025. In August, St Leo the Great Catholic Church in New Jersey filed a civil lawsuit claiming former finance director Joseph Manzi embezzled $1.6 million over six years. In November, Sean Michael Sweeney was arrested and charged with stealing $1.1 million from Saint Matthias Catholic Church in Pennsylvania where he served as business manager from 2017 to 2024.

Church embezzlement typically occurs when individuals have unchecked control over financial accounts without proper oversight or internal controls requiring multiple signatories for expenditures.

THE CRUSADER'S OPINION

Nobody noticed.

The executive director bought $100,000 in gold bars at Costco with the church credit card.

Nobody caught it.

He inflated fees, falsified bank statements, and transferred funds between personal accounts.

For seven years.

This is not just about one corrupt executive director.

This is about systemic failure of financial accountability in churches.

Where were the audits?

Where were the financial oversight committees?

Where was the requirement for two signatures on major expenditures?

One person should never have unchecked control over church finances.

Ever.

The fact that Seong could buy $100,000 in gold bars with a church credit card reveals that nobody was reviewing credit card statements.

The fact that he could inflate fees and falsify bank statements for seven years reveals that nobody was conducting independent audits.

The fact that he could transfer over one million dollars reveals that the church had no internal controls whatsoever.

This congregation trusted the wrong person.

But more importantly, they failed to implement the basic financial safeguards that every church should have in place.

Trust is not a financial control.

Accountability is.

The church is now filing lawsuits and criminal complaints.

Good.

But the damage is done.

Over one million dollars that could have funded ministry, supported missionaries, helped the poor, and expanded the kingdom has been stolen.

Because the church failed to guard what God entrusted to them.

TAKE ACTION

1. Audit your church's financial controls immediately to ensure no single person has unchecked access to church funds. Require two signatures on all checks over $1,000, mandate monthly financial reviews by independent committees, and conduct annual external audits by professional accountants.
2. Review all church credit card statements monthly with oversight committees examining every charge for legitimacy. Implement policies requiring receipts and documentation for all credit card purchases, with automatic flags for unusual transactions like gold bar purchases or large cash withdrawals.
3. Support organizations providing church financial accountability training through resources like Church Law and Tax, Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, and Christian Ministry Resources. Educate church leaders about embezzlement prevention and detection strategies.
   • ECFA: www.ecfa.org
   • Church Law and Tax: www.churchlawandtax.com
4. Demand transparency from church leadership regarding financial policies and procedures. Ask questions about who has access to accounts, how expenditures are approved, who reviews bank statements, and when the last independent audit was conducted.
5. Pray for Community Church of Seattle as they deal with the aftermath of this massive theft. Pray for congregational unity, restoration of trust in leadership, recovery of stolen funds through legal action, and implementation of proper financial safeguards going forward.

Report suspected embezzlement immediately to church leadership, independent auditors, and law enforcement. Do not allow concerns about scandal or reputation to prevent proper investigation of financial irregularities. Protecting the church requires exposing corruption, not hiding it.