ED searches in 4 states over church funds laundering

BHOPAL: The ED has carried out search operations under the provisions of the PMLA at five locations in India, including Indore and Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh, Pune in Maharashtra, Jalandhar in Punjab and Kolkata in West Bengal, as part of its investigation into alleged embezzlement of church funds. Various incriminating documents were seized, said an official release.
ED initiated the investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by EOW, Jabalpur (MP) against P C Singh, former chairman of the Board Education Church of North India, Jabalpur (MP). Prima facie, various office bearers of CNI, including Singh and a former managing director of a trust under CNI, have been found to be involved in the “gross misappropriation of Church properties through sale/renting out at much lower prices by showing them as deteriorating and encroached,” said the ED.
The central agency gave the example of a one-acre land with a building at Satpura National Park in Pachmarhi hill station being rented out to a private entity for a period of 15 years on a rental of Rs 12,500 per month.
On March 15, 2023, ED had conducted searches under PMLA at six premises related to P C Singh at Jabalpur, Mumbai, Ranchi and Nagpur and at three premises in Ranchi on March 18. During the searches an amount of Rs 5,37,500 was recovered from the residence of Singh along with various documents, said the agency.
Singh was arrested by ED on April 12, 2023, and was remanded in judicial custody on April 13. He is in custody.