ED attaches assets worth Rs 59 crore of CSI Trust

BENGALURU: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 59.52 crore of the Church of South India Trust Association (CSITA) under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, (PMLA) 2002, said an ED spokesperson.“We have issued a provisional certificate of attachment of assets, which are in the form of Fixed Deposits maintained and available with State Bank of India, Sudhamanagar branch in the name of CSITA,” the officer added.

According to the ED, “Investigation under the PMLA was initiated on the basis of an FIR, which was registered at the Ashoknagar police station against CSITA for dishonestly entering into an arrangement for transfer of title of Defence Land measuring 7426.886 square metres with Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL). The title of the land belonged to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and was only leased out to the All Saints’ Church for conducting religious affairs of the church and no proprietary right of the land was ever transferred to the Church,” said the officer.

As per the ED, “Part of the precinct, where the Church is situated, was transferred to BMRCL, which is a Government of Karnataka undertaking by CSITA for receiving compensation of Rs 59.29 crore. Earlier, the BMRCL had acquired this land through Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board,” said the officer.

“The investigation has revealed that the CSITA has illegally transferred the land belonging to the MoD to BMRCL. The MoD is the rightful owner of the compensation for the land, which is required to be paid into the Consolidated Fund of India. CSITA is not the rightful owner of the land. They illegally barged into the shoes of Defence authorities and transferred the property and obtained the proceeds from BMRCL. Hence, the ED has identified the CSIT assets of Rs 59.52 crore, including accrued interest on the amount received and the same has been provisionally attached under PMLA,” the officer added.