David Yonggi Cho, founder of the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, South Korea, had instructed church officials back in 2002 to buy stocks owned by his eldest son, Cho Hee-jun, at four times the market value.

In 2011, church elders accused him of embezzling $20 million and again last November, some 30 church elders took their complaints about Cho's corruption to the press, accusing him and his family of stealing millions in church money over the last two decades. ...