ED grills two priests in Syro-Malabar Church land deal case

KOCHI: The  Enforcement Directorate (ED) probing the money laundering behind controversial land deals of  Ernakulam- Angamaly archdiocese on Wednesday interrogated Fr Joshy Puthuva,  former procurator of the archdiocese, and Mon Sebastian Vadakkumpadan, former Vicar General of the archdiocese.

Both priests, who are accused in the case, appeared at the ED office here for the interrogation.
 ED officials said Puthuva and Vadakkumpadan had been office-bearers of the archdiocese when the controversial land deals took place. The ED recorded detailed statements of the duo regarding their role in the land transaction and related financial deals. The interrogation continued late into the evening.

After the interrogation of the priests, ED will record the statement of Syro-Malabar Church supremo Cardinal George Alenchery, who is also an accused in the case. However, the central agency is yet to confirm the date on which Cardinal Alenchery will be questioned. 

The case against the accused persons is that they sold the properties owned by the Church as 36 small plots between July 2016 and August 2017. The sale went ahead despite Church-appointed panels deciding to sell off the properties as single plots. Following a complaint from Pappachan, police registered a case.

The FIR claims that the accused persons conspired with the intention of making financial gains and caused corresponding financial loss to the archdiocese. The ED is probing the money laundering aspect linked to the police case. There are 24 accused persons in the case.