KOCHI, INDIA, February 17, 2016 (Daily Indian Herald): K.P. Yohannan, the self-proclaimed metropolitan of Believers’ Church, and the moving force behind a number of charity firms registered in the US, including Gospel for Asia, has landed in a legal battle in America on the charge that the money being raised by his organisations from the US citizens for charity service in India and other Asian nations, is being diverted to his multi-bullion business, including real estate, plantation and education activities.
The couple, Matthew Dickson and Jennifer Dickson, who has filed a petition against Yohannan at the district court of Arkansas, alleges that though he promises donors that money they contribute for the charity services would fully be utilized for the purpose, only a part of it is invested for the charity service and the major portion of it is used by him for asset creation. The couple who donates money to Gospel For Asia, alleges in the petition that between 2007 and 2013 GFA has solicited over US$450 million in donation from the US alone where the majority of GFA’s donors reside. Despite repeated and explicit promises by GFA, only a portion of the amount was spent for feeding, providing potable water, health care and education and creating job opportunities for poorest of poor in India.
Similarly, the couple says GFA which has registered as a non-profit entity and religious order and therefore, free from publishing its financial statements in the US, worldwide collected around $115,000,000 in donations in 2013 according to its financial statement, but documents in India shows that it spent only $14,694,642 for the need poor in India. Being a foreign charity entity, GFA has to disclose the amount spent in India in pursuance of the Indian Foreign Contribution Regulation Act 2010. Incidentally, outside the US, GFA is most active in India.