Kanchi Mutt had confirmed receipt of funds, claims firm

The Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, which is facing investigation by the Central Crime Branch of Bangalore on the grounds that it is a party in money laundering, is said to have received Rs 3,992 crore by way of donations between December 2011 and January 2012.

A letter dated May 30, 2012, written by Genesis Financial Consultants chairman M S Ashok Kumar to Kanchi Mutt seer Jayendra Saraswati, states that the Mutt had confirmed the receipt of the amount which was sent through three banks. Kumar has quoted S Sridharan, the authorised person for the Mutt, confirming that the money was received.

In the letter, Kumar said, “It is confirmed by Sridharan that the Peetam has received Rs 3,992 crore between December 2011 and January 2012 through Genesis.”

While submitting the list of donors for the past two years to CCB, the Mutt has said that it had never received such large amounts of donations since its inception.

Sources in the CCB state that the Mutt had submitted the donors’ list, which showed contributions ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 10,000, but none in crores. In total, the donations shown by the Mutt do not exceed Rs 15 crore in the last two years.  
 
As per the letter by Kumar to the seer, the money was routed via ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and City Union Bank to the Peetam. The letter suggests Kumar’s loyalty to the seer and that Genesis was scheduled to receive Rs 99.8 crore as service charges at the rate of 2.5 per cent for raising donations. Kumar also mentioned the authorisation letter about Sridharan being the pointsman for receiving donations on behalf of the Mutt.

CCB officials state that when they questioned the personnel of the Mutt, they could not deny that an authorisation letter appointing Sridharan to receive and disburse donations was issued, but neither did they confirm that such amounts were received. It is said that the letter, which was typed on the official Mutt letterhead, had authorised Sridharan to receive funds and utilise up to Rs 10,000 crore on behalf of the Mutt. 

The CCB is now looking at five trusts associated with the Mutt for money laundering, based on certain valid information received from the chartered accountant for the religious institution. Officials said that they were trying to ascertain whether only these five trusts, or any other trust under the Mutt banner was used for money laundering.

DCP (Crime) Abhishek Goyal said the CCB still has a lot of investigation to do in the case, with the likelihood of the police travelling to Chennai and following leads there. On April 24, 2014, Neelakantachar Swami and eight others – all residents of Bangalore – had filed a complaint with the Vijayanagar police claiming cheating, criminal breach of trust and forgery by Genesis and nine people while raising donations for the Peetam.

They had suspected that even ‘black money’ was being laundered through the Mutt. The complaints claim that they were supposed to have received a share of the 2.5 per cent of the donations as commission.