HK warned about this ‘Fraud Yohannan’ on the very first day

The Home Department’s team that had examined the details of the property held by Christian faith-healer and gospel workers ‘Bishop’ KP Yohannan of the Believers’ Church and Gospel for Asia on Saturday submitted its report to Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan. The report has found Yohannan guilty of committing financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 900 crore including manipulations in the transaction of foreign funds.

The team in its preliminary examinations found that Yohannan had committed several irregularities through the trust formed for Believer’s Church and that most of his deal were in land. The report also said that Yohannan had tried to overcome the restrictions imposed by the Kerala Land Reforms Act through clever moves.

Sources said that the Chief Minister and Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan were looking into the report and a detailed Crime Branch investigation could be launched into the financial dealings by Yohannan, who had been accused of earning even the position of Bishop through erroneous moves.

The report said that most of Yohannan’s investments were in land and that he had invested at least Rs 1,044 crore in land purchases. The team also found that the gospel worker had involved in a land deal worth Rs 130 crore recently. The Home Department team had found documents of this transaction. It also alleged that there could have been serious malpractices in the repatriation of foreign funds into Kerala.

The team recommended a detailed probe into the purchase of an estate at Cheruvalli, Pathanamthitta from Harrison Malayalam Plantations Ltd. They also found that the ‘Bishop’ had recently purchased 40 acres of paddy farmland in Kuttappuzha near Thiruvalla and filled it with the intention of overcoming the land ceiling imposed by the Land Reforms Act.

The team, which comprised police and Intelligence officials, also found that the entire property of Believers’ Church and Gospel for Asia was held by trusts with Yohannan and his relatives. The asset base of Believers’ Church was Rs 572 crore and that of Gospel for Asia was Rs 472 crore. It was also found that the funds brought from abroad by Yohannan’s trusts had not been used for humanitarian work.

Sleuths and police officials were after Yohannan ever since the current hunt for fake godmen had begun in the State in the first week of May. Other Christian prayer-healing organisaions like Swargeeya Virunnu (Heavenly Feast), run by Brother Thanku (Sam Kuruvila) and Brother Thomas Kutty also had come under the police lens. Organisations like Hindu Aikya Vedi and Bharateeya Janata Yuva Morcha had held several protest marches against these institutions.

There were several allegations against Yohannan and his establishments. A recent examination held by the Labour Department had found that more than 100 people employed by Yohannan’s church were working there with no proper documents. It was also found that Yohannan had violated several provisions of Labour rules.

A television channel had recently found the security guards at Believers’ Church using modern wireless communication instruments in violation of the provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act. A team of officials had found that Yohannan or his establishments did not possess a licence to keep or operate wireless instruments.