Senior members of the cult Honohana Sanpogyo received millions of yen in kickbacks around 1996 from several companies engaged in the construction of a cult facility in Tokyo, sources within the group said Thursday.
The sources said cult founder Hogen Fukunaga, 55, and other senior Honohana members received the money after demanding 40 million yen from the firms involved. The construction of the facility in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward was completed last year at a cost of 4 billion yen.
Fukunaga, whose real first name is Teruyoshi, and 11 senior members of Honohana were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of defrauding followers. Fukunaga stepped down as leader of the group in January.