An Enforcement Directorate (ED) charge sheet has clarified that the crores of black money conducted under the leadership of the former CSI (Church of South India) Bishop in the Karakonam Somervell Memorial CSI Medical College Hospital corruption case was laundered. According to the ED, former CSI bishop Dharmaraj Rasalam took a bribe of Rs 7 crore from parents by promising an MBBS seat.

The ED chargesheet also revealed that college director Bennett Abraham and others were directly involved in the crime. TT Praveen (former Sabha Secretary), P Thankaraj (former Finance Controller), and Clerk PL Shiji are the others.

It is one of the first four private Medical Colleges in Kerala, owned by the South Kerala Medical Mission (SKMM) of the South Kerala Diocese (SKD), one of the 22 dioceses of the Church of South India (CSI). Karakonam is about 35 kilometres south of Trivandrum City.

This week, the 1508-page charge sheet was filed in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court at Kaloor, Ernakulam. The Kerala Police Crime Branch had investigated the case earlier. However, when the charge sheet was submitted, it completely exempted the top Church officials, including Rasalam.

Following this, the defrauded parents approached the Kerala High Court (HC). The HC instructed the ED to take over the case registered initially by the Vellarada police, Thiruvananthapuram. Then, the ED took over investigating the case involving the CSI Church scandal.

The complaint surfaced about the purported acceptance of Rs 7.22 crore from the parents of 28 children in exchange for medical admissions. These promises were later broken.

The medical college administration tried to resolve the matter by returning the money when the Crime Branch filed a case based on the parents’ complaint. The church refused to compensate all the people impacted by the controversy. A large amount of the money that was collected was claimed to have been used to build other church buildings.

The case is that the money was smuggled abroad after accepting crores of bribes for admission to CSI Medical College. The High Court had earlier quashed the charge sheet filed by the Crime Branch, excluding Bishop Rasalam from the list of accused.

Following this, the ED investigated. The ED had questioned the accused several times and conducted raids at Bishop House headquarters, Karakonam Medical College, and Abraham’s house. In this case, several medical college staff members and the parents who lost money are essential witnesses.

The investigation team found that the accused accepted bribes and laundered black money, violating foreign exchange rules. Immediately after his questioning in July 2022, Rasalam tried to fly to England, but Thiruvananthapuram Airport Immigration authorities, with instructions from ED officers, prevented him from doing so.

Rasalam and Abraham are well connected to Kerala’s high and mighty politicians. Rasalam is particularly close to former Thiruvanthapuram Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. Abraham fought in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections on a Communist Party of India (CPI) ticket.

In 2020, Swarajya reported that investigations by Kerala’s Admission and Supervisory Committee for Medical Education revealed that students had paid as high as Rs 60 lakh, and the money was collected for aspirants from Tamil Nadu. This was even though students from Tamil Nadu are not eligible for admission to MBBS, BDS, and MD courses in Kerala.

A dispute within the CSI is reported to have brought these facts to light. The High Court questioned the State police why it had not arrested the Bishop and others accused in the case. “Is the investigating officer afraid to arrest them?” Justice P V Kunhikrishnan wondered. The Pinarayi Vijayan government has been lenient in acting against such accusations against the church, eyeing their leaders’ backing for political gains.

The CSI Church administrative committee claimed they would pursue additional legal action against the parties involved in the case. Praveen and Rasalam, who are involved, are no longer employed by the organisation. However, Abraham continues as the Director of Karakonam Medical College.

Reportedly, the Rs 95 lakh that the ED has confiscated will be returned to the victims who suffered financial losses.

The CSI cult runs an estimated 104 hospitals, several colleges and thousands of schools. It has converted lakhs of Hindus and claims a membership of 40 lakhs members. In terms of numbers, it is the second-biggest Christian church in Bharat.