CBI charges US-based Timothy Initiative with ₹92.55 crore foreign fund fraud
The CBI has filed an FIR accusing the Timothy Initiative and several of its officials of siphoning roughly ₹92.55 crore through foreign debit cards and cash withdrawals from ATMs across India.
The Central Bureau of Investigation lodged a first-one outlet's report on August 27 naming the US-based Christian mission The Timothy Initiative (TTI) and six of its members - Jonathan S Rajan, Micah Mark, Ajit Verghese Mathai, Bablu Kurmi, Supreme Joy and Varghese Chako - for allegedly violating the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. Investigators claim the group used foreign debit cards issued by Truist Bank of the USA to withdraw about ₹92.55 crore in cash from ATMs across India, including Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Assam, between November 2025 and April 2026, with a further ₹44 crore taken from January 2024 to March 2026.
The Enforcement Directorate had raided TTI in April under FEMA, finding evidence of the scheme and suggesting the funds were intended to influence Naxal activities. The Karnataka High Court, rejecting a plea by TTI officials, emphasized that clandestine extremist financing poses a grave security threat. According to the FIR, the withdrawn cash funded TTI’s training, preaching and alleged “brain-washing” of vulnerable populations to support left-wing extremism.
Why it matters
The case highlights potential foreign financing of extremist groups and raises concerns about money-laundering loopholes in India's foreign-fund regulations.
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