A Muslim YouTuber, who had collected donations to build an Islamic mosque in Incheon only to have the project fall through, has recently been reported to the police on suspicion of misappropriation.
According to the police, on May 13th, Seoul Mapo Police Station received a complaint on May 8th accusing the YouTuber of fraud, misappropriation, and violation of the Act on Collection and Use of Donations
The YouTuber is accused of soliciting donations for building an Islamic mosque without submitting a donation collection and use plan to the local government. Instead, he allegedly directed the funds into his account.
The total amount collected by the YouTuber is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, yet the mosque construction project has been scrapped.
In April, the YouTuber announced through his YouTube channel that he would build an Islamic mosque in Incheon and publicly shared his account number. He further announced that he had purchased land for the mosque.
However, due to local opposition, the YouTuber and the original landowner eventually agreed to cancel the contract.
On April 18th, the Korean Muslim Federation announced “No Islamic mosque is allowed to be registered in an individual’s name or to raise funds in an individual’s name for the construction of a mosque,” and that “the YouTuber’s fundraising is an individual fundraising activity unrelated to this religious group.”
