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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted raids in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand in connection with a money laundering case against former Jabalpur bishop P.C. Singh, the moderator of Church of North India (CNI).
Raids were also conducted at the residences of some of his family members. As per the information, several ED teams raided at as many as 10 premises, including in Jabalpur, Ranchi, and Nagpur and claimed to have confiscated several incriminating documents. In September last year, the ED had filed the case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) taking cognisance of an EOW FIR that names Singh and his son Piyush Paul. Singh was then taken into custody on September 12 in connection with a case registered by EOW in Jabalpur under the IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act. Nilesh Lawrence, a Chhattisgarh-based activist whose complaint had led to the EOW searches on the bishop, alleges that Singh had leased out a prime property of CNI in 2016. Singh was accused of misusing his position to change the name of the Nagpur Diocesan Board of Education without the consent of the board and appoint himself its Chairman. He is also accused of diverting funds from educational institutions to religious institutions in Jabalpur Diocese and for his personal use. In September last year, the EOW had found that from 2004-05 to 2011-2012, Singh had allegedly transferred more than Rs 2.7 crore to the Jabalpur Diocese from different schools run by the society. He is also accused of having taken a loan of Rs 15 lakh in 2009 from Christ Church Boys' Senior Secondary School and used it to buy a private property. This loan was allegedly fraudulently shown as 'secured loan' to Jabalpur Diocese in the school accounts. The FIR also alleges that he and another person named Luvy Mary Sathe bought a property meant for opening a branch of Christ Church School in Saliwada in their own names and the EMI for this loan was paid by the school. --IANS pd/vd ( 349 Words) 2023-03-15-19:42:02 (IANS)
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