I-T raids at Kerala church, foreign funding rules violation detected

The Income Tax (IT) sleuths raided workplaces and establishments related to evangelist Okay P Yohanan’s Believers’ Church in central Kerala and different locations and seized Rs 5 crore forex and different valuables, a senior official who’s a part of the investigation mentioned.

The officer mentioned the raid which began on Thursday was persevering with at many locations and critical violations of Foreign Contributions Regulation Act and (FCRA) Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) had been detected. The Believers’ Church runs a medical faculty and lots of different academic establishments in Kerala and different states. It additionally owns Cheruvally property in Pathanamthitta district which has been recognized as the situation for the proposed Sabarimala airport.

In 2017, the Union residence ministry had barred three NGOs related to the church from accepting funds however the newest raids present fund circulation continued from overseas international locations in different names. It is alleged that greater than Rs 100 crore got here within the final three years. A senior I-T official mentioned the division will launch particulars as soon as raids are over. He mentioned raids had been primarily based on particular data on tax evasion and misuse of overseas funds. The church mentioned it is going to give a press release after the conclusion of raids.

An impartial denomination, the indigenous church has witnessed large progress within the final one and a half decade and its head KP Yohanan is understood for his non secular discourses. The 70-year-old priest is the founder and president of Gospel of Asia, a big non-profit evangelist organisation with principal concentrate on India and Asia. He has additionally authored greater than 100 books on Christian dwelling and mission.

A controversial non secular head, he was in information when the church introduced Chreuvally Estate, a rubber and tea plantation unfold over 10 kms radius, from plantation group Harisons Malayalam Limited. In July, the Kerala High Court had directed the state authorities to not purchase the land for the airport by drive after KP Yohanan moved the court docket.