DALLAS (DIYA TV) — K.P. Yohannan, a Kerala-born Indian American missionary founded and runs Gospel for Asia — the second-largest of Christian missionary agencies in the United States — has been accused in a class-action lawsuit of fraudulently soliciting charitable donations, then shifting said donations to personal his personal bank accounts. Several other affiliates have been implicated as co-conspirators in the lawsuit, as well as members of Yohannan’s family.
Yohannan now resides in Dallas-Fort Worth in north Texas.
The organization was founded in 1978, and has presences in several countries such as Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Laos and Thailand. It operates primarily in India. Gospel for Asia broadcasts itself as an organization which supplies the “poorest of the poor” with food, provisions and a Christian message. However, lead attorney in the lawsuit, Marc R. Stanley, said in a statement released last week that the organization has instead been exploiting the goodwill of Christians in the United States.
“K.P. Yohannan and his Gospel for Asia inner circle have been exploiting the goodwill and generosity of devout Christians around the country for years. Gospel for Asia should return all the money it’s taken from donors who thought they were contributing to charity,” Stanley said.
K.P. Yohannan
The lawsuit alleges the fraudulent solicitations amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars. It was filed in U.S. federal court by the Dallas-based Stanley Law Group, and comes just four months after the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) cut ties with Gospel for Asia, citing violations in five of the ECFA’s seven core standards.
“Allegations were made that GFA had upwards of $150 million in partner field accounts, far more than necessary to provide appropriate operating reserves. During our visit on June 3, ECFA was informed that GFA field partner cash reserves were approximately $7 million,” John C. Van Drunen, executive vice president of the ECFA, said in a signed statement.
In the 108-page court document, plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege that Gospel for Asia, Yohannan, and other officials of the organization misrepresented to its donors how, where and when their charitable donations would be spent. It further alleges that instead of using the money for missionary purposes, Yohannan and GFA instead allocated the money for personal use, various for-profit businesses, and its lavish headquarters.
Matthew and Jennifer Dickson, named plaintiffs in the suit, have charged Yohannan with violations of the RICO statute — a law which focuses primarily on racketeering and is reserved for groups who knowingly participate in organized crime — violating the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, as well as fraud and unjust enrichment.
According to the lawsuit, Gospel for Asia solicited over $450 million in the United States alone between the years of 2007 and 2013. North of one million unique donations are made to the organization each year from tens of thousands who give a one-time or recurring donation, however, despite explicit guarantees from GFA to donors, only a fraction of the donated money supports the people and causes for which it was donated. Instead, Yohanann and others used the money for personal use, the lawsuit said.
Yohannan’s wife and board member, Gisela, and son, who is organization’s vice president, Daniel, are named defendants in the lawsuit.
As a foreign charity operating in India, Gospel for Asia is required to publicly account for all funds it spends inside the country, pursuant to the Indian Foreign Contribution Regulation Act of 2010. Examinations of the FC-6 reports submitted to the Indian government for Believers Church, Gospel for Asia-India, and the related limited liability companies of Last Hour Ministries and Love India Ministries reveal just how small of an amount the organization sends to the country, according to the lawsuit.
