Hogen Fukunaga, founder of the Honohana Sanpogyo foot-reading cult, denied in his first trial hearing Thursday that he conspired with other members of the sect to defraud 31 people out of about 149 million yen.
Fukunaga, 55, told the Tokyo District Court that he has been engaged in religious activities, which he described as authentic, for 20 years. He said this would have been impossible had he committed fraud.
"I have never heard a voice from heaven that instructed me to swindle somebody," he said. "Therefore, I have never told anybody to swindle somebody else."