- Terminally ill Taiwanese mother and son lost over Rs 3.7 crore to a spiritual programme
- The mother joined the course in 2013, her son in 2021, both paying millions after selling their home
- The programme leaders claimed participation was voluntary and justified fees, no charges filed yet
A terminally sick Taiwanese mother and her son were allegedly duped by a coercive "spiritual" programme, and they lost more than NT$13 million (Rs 3.7 crore) after selling their house to pay for it.
The woman, known only by her last name, Wang, enrolled in a purported "spiritual growth course" in August 2013. She had been diagnosed with terminal cancer at the time, the South China Morning Post reported on October 19.
Her son later joined the same spiritual course in April 2021.
The programme, which claimed to provide spiritual growth and atonement, was run by two other women - Zhang and Chen. They demanded NT$2 million (Rs 57 lakh) for an "Energy Purification Master" course, penalised people for non-compliance (example- missing a phone call).
After selling their home, the mother paid NT$6.8 million (about Rs 2 crore) and the son NT$6.5 million.
In addition to financial extortion, the allegedly spiritual rituals included unsettling elements of coercion and humiliation, such as forcing participants to kneel by the side of the road, licking the toes of other participants, and enduring forced same-sex marriages.
Wang and her son were pressured into same-sex "marriages" in 2021, following which they were compelled to divorce and remarry inside the group.
Wang was told that she would "die horribly" if she refused to follow orders, a warning she felt obliged to accept because of her terminal illness.
In April 2024, the mother and son filed a lawsuit, claiming they had been duped and forced. A court decided in their favour and granted them compensation of NT$13.3 million (Rs 3.8 crore).
Zhang and Chen contended during the court case that Wang and her son had been enrolled in programmes for a decade, which they said justified the exorbitant fees.
The two women who oversaw the programme insisted that participation was entirely voluntary and that there was no scientific way to verify the spiritual benefits. It is still unknown if the two leaders have been charged with any crimes.
Earlier, an elderly man in Mumbai, was defrauded of about Rs 9 crore by four women-who might have been just one person-in the name of love and sympathy during a scam that lasted for almost two years and involved 734 online transactions.
The 80-year-old made 734 payments totalling Rs 8.7 crore between April 2023 and January 2025. He borrowed Rs 2 lakh from his daughter-in-law and requested Rs 5 lakh from his son to pay the women after using all of his funds.
