The former director at a Korean church in Washington has been accused of embezzling more than $1 million from the congregation over seven years.

Hwan Chul Seong, executive director of Seattle's Brethren Church, oversaw the finances of the church and its affiliated school, UCIC. According to the Korea Times, he was fired after a church investigation found that he allegedly stole funds from both the church and the school.

Investigators allege that Seong manipulated the books at the largest Korean church in the Pacific Northwest. He is accused of transferring funds between various personal accounts by falsifying bank statements and inflating fees.

Church leaders announced that an investigation found that Seong used the church business card to purchase gold bars from Costco on multiple occasions totaling, $100,000. He later claimed he paid the amount to the church from his personal funds, but the church's investigation found he never paid it.

The church held a council meeting to discuss Seong’s dismissal, and a fact-finding committee was formed to investigate whether Pastor Seong embezzled any additional funds.

At the joint council meeting, Elder Park Yu-shin, who was in charge of the investigation, reportedly stated that “it is estimated that the minister embezzled a total of $1,136,866.69 over seven years through various methods, such as withdrawing cash with a card, using it for personal use, inflating fees, and inflating the amount itself.”