This is Part 3 of a Special Report on the Kerala-based Christian evangelical organisation, Gospel For Asia, and the Believers Eastern Church. Here are Part 1 and Part 2.
A series of actions taken by various Indian law enforcement agencies and Indian tax authorities against Kerala-based Gospel for Asia have brought to light large-scale diversion of donor funds for acquisition of assets and investment in “for profit” activities. One of India’s largest evangelical organisations, Gospel For Asia (GFA) is headed by self-styled Bishop Moran Mor Athanasius Yohan I Metropolitan, Believers Eastern Church.
GFA is also facing a class action suit in Canada from aggrieved donors and has just settled another class action suit in USA from aggrieved donors. Donor funds vanishing into thin air, funds ’round-tripped’ from the US to India and back to the US as “anonymous donations”, diversion of donor funds into for-profit activities, defamation suits to browbeat opponents − this is only a tip of the proverbial iceberg of serious allegations levelled against GFA and Believers’ Church.
The Lure of “100 % Guarantee For Donor Fund to Field”
Donors to GFA were assured that 100 % of their donations will be sent to the field-intended beneficiaries without any administrative or other expenses. This guarantee was a huge motivating factor for donors to send in their donations. A donor sending in donation for child support was under the assurance that his or her entire donation will reach the child. But that was not the case.
Apart from diverting nearly 80 % of the donations to non-donor intended purposes, even the wordings of the “100 % guarantee” were altered in due course. An excerpt from the now settled class action law suit reads:
27. But GFA revised its explanation of the 100% Guarantee by adding the following wholly new verbiage: “We are committed to honouring your gift preferences, however, occasionally we receive more contributions for a given project than can be wisely applied to that project. When this happens we use the funds to meet a similar pressing need.”
The following two screenshots from GFA’s website illustrate the change:
Investment in “For Profit” Activities out of Donor Tied Funds:
In flagrant violation of India’s Foreign Currency Regulation Act, 2010 and a complete diversion of donor funds, Gospel for Asia and Believers Church invested huge sums of money in acquiring rubber plantations, construction of hospitals, colleges and schools. An excerpt from the now settled class action law suit:
38. Yohannan created Believers Church in 2003. From 2003 through 2014, GFA solicited and collected approximately $700,000,000 from U.S. donors. During this period, Believers Church bought and operated the following:
(1) A 2,300-acre for-profit rubber plantation, the Cheruvally Rubber Estate
(2) Carmel Engineering College, a for-profit undergraduate institute in Kerala, India, of which K.P. Yohannan is the “patron” as shown on the College’s homepage
(3) Believers Church Medical College Hospital, a for-profit, 500-bed teaching hospital established in Kerala in 2014, of which K.P. Yohannan is the “patron,”
4) At least six for-profit primary schools in Kerala, India, for which K.P. Yohannan is patron
(5) Sponsorship of a football (soccer) club playing the Myanmar National League.
The Missing Millions of Gospel For Asia:
In 2013, of the $76.3 million GFA-International received from GFA entities in the United States, Canada, and Germany, almost $43 million went missing, no longer accounted for in GFA financial documents nor received in India per FC-6 forms.
The four Indian-based GFA affiliates (GFA-India, Believers Church, Love India Ministries, and Last Hour Ministries) declared receipt of $33.6 million from foreign sources. Just $28.3 million was declared to have come from the U.S., Canada, and Germany through GFA-International; the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand had sent the balance directly to these GFA affiliates.
Between 2007-2014, Gospel for Asia spent around 20% of donor funds on actual mission expenditure, i.e., donor tied specific sponsorships like child support, water wells, toilets, blankets purchase of livestock for income support etc. Rest of the funds were diverted for other activities in a complete let down of donor’s intentions.
Misleading Statements in Public Appearances
Gospel for Asia leader KP Yohannan, who calls himself “Moran Mor Athanasius Yohan I Metropolitan, Believers Eastern Church” has been caught in many bold-faced lies, including saying that he is not on any boards or trusts in India and has no legal control of entities there, when numerous public records show that he has full legal authority over Believers’ Church, its assets, and other entities there.
During a meeting with staff and in an interview with Francis Chan uploaded in Gospel Asia’s YouTube Channel, he said:
My role is being a spiritual father of right now about 2.7 million people scattered throughout all these nations and I do not have any legal say or decision about legal matters. My role is a spiritual leadership. You may not have asked that but there are hundreds of trusts and entities in all these countries. I don’t sit on any of those things. There are their own people. And my role is the spiritual leadership.
Contrary to what Yohanan said, a perusal of the constitution of the Believers Church shows that the Metropolitan of Believers Church wields enormous powers and is the final authority on every issue concerning Believers Church. He has powers not only on spiritual matters, but on entire administration, organisation and restructuring/re-organisation of Believers Church. In most of the court cases filed by Believers Church, Government agencies, brochures of educational institutions of Believers Church, Yohanan is shown as the Managing Trustee of Believers Church.
Believers Church Properties Registered Personally Under the Name of the Metropolitan, and not the Church Institution
According to the Constitution, the Metropolitan also is co-owner with Believers Church of all property maintained by the church. In 2005, local church pastors were reminded to register property in Yohannan’s name. The following letter was sent to make sure they did it according to church policy.
This is in clear violation of Foreign Currency Regulation Act, 2010 which mandates that all properties created out of FCRA receipts shall be registered in the name of the institution receiving the funds. FCRA rules clearly state that:
Every asset purchased with foreign contribution should be acquired and possessed in the name of the association since an association has a separate legal entity distinct from its members.
In view of this rule of the GFA of registering church properties in the name of K P Yohanan in his capacity as the Metropolitan of the Believer’s Church, it is quite possible that numerous properties are registered under his name. For example, in reply to an RTI query, the Mandal Parishad Development Officer of Tadepalligudem Mandal in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh gave the reply that in the village of Dandugarra, the site of Believers Church is registered in the name of K P Yohanan and not in the name of the church.
Since land records are maintained by state governments, Government of India should attach all properties of Believers’ Church in India. They should also obtain full details of each and every property registered in the name of K P Yohanan or Believers Church anywhere in India.
Diversion of Donor Funds to Income-generating Activities and Asset Buying:
One of the charges levied against Gospel for Asia by the Ecumenical Council for Financial Authority was diversion of donor money towards income generating activities. To quote from their report:
1. Use of field-generated funds to satisfy designated foreign contributions. During our meeting on July 1, ECFA first learned that GFA and its field partners have engaged in a multi-year practice whereby field partners at least partially satisfied the designations on foreign contributions (primarily from U.S. donors, restricted for field use in India) by using locally generated field income (contributions from donors in India, profits from an India based rubber plantation, hospitals, etc.).
Such a move is clear violation of donor’s mandate as well as the provisions of Clause 8, Section 1(a) FCRA Act, 2010 which clearly states that:
Every person, who is registered and granted a certificate or given prior permission under this Act and receives any foreign contribution shall utilise such contribution for the purposes for which the contribution has been received.
Investing FCRA contributions in profitable ventures and using the profits arising thereof for welfare activities is also prohibited by FCRA Act and the rules framed thereunder. Between 2003 and 2013, only 20 % of the donor funds were utilised for donor mandated purposes and 80% was diverted for Gospel for Asia−Believers Church asset acquisitions and investments in “for profit” business ventures.
As early as 2015, Yohannan was on record saying:
There are several income producing entities in Asia. That’s why partly why we have 35% of our church is self-sustaining, by God’s grace now in Asia.
From the foregoing, it is very clear that Gospel for Asia and Believers Church had a clear-cut strategy of diverting the bulk of donor funds to asset building and investments in “for profits” ventures so that they could be totally self-sustaining without depending upon any donor or subject themselves to the laws of various countries. In a ruthless pursuit of this objective, they have completely let down their donors who parted with their hard-earned money to help the poor and needy. For more than three decades, GFA has violated multiple laws in countries where it operates. Though the law is slowly catching up with the violations of GFA and Believers Church, the sheer scale of operations of GFA spanning almost all continents over a time period of three decades calls for a much wider and deeper probe by Indian law enforcement agencies. They should consider joining the ongoing class action suit in Canada.
Another step that needs to be implemented immediately is to make it mandatory to submit to the Government of India, on a quarterly basis, all literature, posters, videos, and other material relating to fund-raising by FCRA NGOs abroad. The sheer amount of misinformation about India, especially portraying India as a country of mass poverty, is causing serious damage to the nation’s image.
This part concludes the Special Report on the alleged fund-diversions and other illegalities perpetrated by Gospel For Asia and Believers’ Church.
Acknowledgement: The author of this report acknowledges the efforts made by Warren Throckmorton, a blogger and professor at Grove City College (https://www.wthrockmorton.com/), who has meticulously documented, from 2015 onwards, all issues relating to GFA. Despite threats of legal action, he has exposed the misdeeds of Gospel For Asia and Believers Church.
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