FCRA: IT raids at Believers’ Church in Kerala, Rs 5 crore seized

New Delhi, Nov 07: The Income Tax today conducted raids at offices associated with evangelist K P Yohanan's Believers' Church in Kerala and other places. The officials have seized Rs 5 crore currency apart from other valuables.

An official tells OneIndia that the raids were continuing in many places. The official also said that there were violations under the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act and (FCRA) Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

The Believers' Church runs a medial college several other educational institutions in Kerala.

It also owns the Cheruvally estate in Pathanamthitta district. This area has been identified as the location for the Sabarimala Airport that has been proposed.

It may be recalled that the Union Home Ministry had in 2017 barred three NGOs associated with the Church from accepting funds. However sources tell OneIndia that the latest raids show that the funds continued to pour in from foreign countries in other names.

The Church is headed by K P Yohanan. He is a controversial leader and was in the news when he purchased the Cheruvally estate, which is a rubber and tea plantation spread over 10 kilometre radius from the Harrisons Malayalam Ltd.