Japan: Shinzo Abe shooter's mother donated roughly $720K to Church linked to ex-Japan PM

The mother of Tetsuya Yamagami, who assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last week donated a total of 100 million yen to the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, also known as the Unification Church, revealed the killer's kin on Friday morning.

According to a Kyodo News report, Tetsuya Yamagami told investigating officials that his family was financially ruined only due to large donations made by his mother to the religious group. Yamagami also stated that Shinzo Abe had links to these donations and charity groups. 

Japan: Shinzo Abe shooter's mother donated around $720k to Unification Church 

According to Kyodo News, Yamagami's mother became a follower of the church in 1991 after her husband committed suicide. She first donated 20 million yen to the church, then later gave away another 30 million, and again, 10 million yen was given away a few years later. According to Yamagami's uncle, these funds came from payments she received from a life insurance policy on her husband. Later, she also sold the family's land and house to donate an additional 40 million yen to the church. 

Furthermore, it also came to the fore that Yamagami's mother continued donating smaller amounts to the church even after she became bankrupt in 2002. "I believe she was a very important follower of the church. She was under mind control," said Yamagami's  77-year-old uncle, who also revealed that the church has claimed it returned 50 million yen to her, while there have been no official records of the amounts of the donations she made to the organization. Also, he criticised the church's response and accused it of being responsible for Yamagami's poor financial condition. He also gave up going to college due to a lack of money, he added.

Yamagmi's uncle told the reporters that the former was an extremely talented person "just like his father" and that he was also hard-working. Yamagami attempted suicide in 2005 when he was a member of the Maritime Self-Defense Force as he wanted the funds for life insurance to be given to his brother and sister, however, his mother finally donated the money to the church. Previously, other complaints were also filed against the church, alleging that people were forced to buy expensive pots and seals and that it also encourages believers to donate some percentage of their income.

Shinzo Abe was shot dead on July 8 while he was delivering a speech on a street in the western city of Nara. 41-year-old Yamagami was arrested at the scene of the crime. He was immediately taken under custody.

Image: AP