A class-action suit filed Feb. 8, in a federal court in Arkansas alleges financial fraud in the millions by a U.S.-based Christian charitable organization founded and run by an Indian-American.
Matthew Dickson and Jennifer Dickson, representing a class of donors, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, alleging that Gospel for Asia, Inc., and its founder Yohannan Kadappiliaril Punnose, also known as K.P. Yohannan, solicited charitable donations to benefit the poorest of the poor but diverted the money to a multi-million dollar personal empire. The organization has a significant presence in India apart from other countries, the website shows. The GFA is incorporated in Texas and has its headquarters in Wills Point, Texas. The IRS recognizes it as both a 501(c)(3) non-profit as well as a “religious order,” according to the lawsuit.
The 45-page court filing claims Yohannan and the organization have been getting away with the fraud for years and that, “Yohannan and a handful of close associates have acquired hundreds of millions of dollars from tens of thousands of well-intentioned donors throughout the country.” Among the associates accused in the class action are Gisela Punnose, Yohannan’s wife, Daniel Punnose, his son, and David Carroll, and Pat Emerick.
Gospel for Asia did not respond to News India Times by press time but a Feb. 12 statement from its board said, it learnt of the lawsuit when reporters began inquiring. “We must take the time to fully understand the nature of the accusations being leveled against us, and then we will respond accordingly,” the organization said. “We will fully cooperate with the law and are in the process of securing specialized legal counsel to help us and our other legal advisors navigate this new challenge.” Without naming the Dicksons, GFA said they had launched a “relentless attack” on it “for months.”
“The staff leadership of Gospel for Asia are working diligently to handle all of this responsibly and with integrity. We will come out of this stronger,” the statement said.
The class-action filing alleges that the money meant for “very specific charitable purposes,” such as meals for impoverished, hungry children, was diverted by Yohannan and his close associates, to “buy and run for-profit businesses; to build an expensive, secluded headquarters and personal residences; to sponsor an international sports team; and to speculate in financial markets.”
According to the court filing, GFA also has at least fourteen known affiliated limited liability companies, all registered in Wills Point, TX, including “Road to Peace,” “Unconditional Love,” and “Bridge Builders,” and has (or had) affiliated national offices in India, the United Kingdom, Germany, South Africa, Australia, South Korea, Finland, New Zealand, and Canada.
“Outside of the United States, GFA has its most significant presence in India, where it facilitates activities primarily through four entities: Believers Church, Gospel for Asia-India, Last Hour Ministries, and Love India Ministries,” according to the court filing. The four entities are incorporated in Kerala. The plaintiffs say Believers Church, an evangelical organization, owns and operates a number of for-profit outfits in India, including a rubber plantation, medical and engineering colleges, and a network of for- profit primary schools. “GFA and Believers Church are closely linked through funding and purpose, and each is ultimately controlled by the same individual,” they say.
The GFA was founded in 1978 by Yohannan, who came to the U.S. in 1974, where according to the GFA website, he received his theological training and was pastor of a church for four years. Gospel for Asia, the website says, is “a Christian mission organization that has brought the Good News of Christ to millions in South Asia over the last three decades,” adding that “His (Yohannan’s) call to a radical lifestyle—with an all-out commitment to Jesus—has left its impact on nearly every continent.”
However, the lawsuit paints a different picture alleging that GFA solicited more than $450 million in donations from U.S. donors between 2007 and 2013, ostensibly to help thousands of children and their families in South Asia, but less than $15 million went to support the poor in India and a large chunk of around $43 million was not accounted for. Instead, the lawsuit alleges, $20 million was used to build GFA’s Texas compound and shown as coming from an anonymous donor. To strengthen their argument, the plaintiffs pointed to the revoking of GFA’s accreditation by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability in 2015.
In its Feb. 12 board statement, the GFA acknowledges the revoked accreditation by ECFA after 36 years. “… but the loss of accreditation does not mean that the organization is guilty of illegal or unethical behavior,” the GFA claims, adding “Our response was to begin a focused review and to implement the ECFA’s recommended improvements.”
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