It has been alleged that the money was earmarked for religious entities and personal use.
A huge recovery of cash, jewellery and foreign currency has been made from the house of Bishop accused of cheating, in Jabalpur, sources in the Economic Offences wing said after a search earlier today. The officials have called for note counting machines and they are expecting the cash to be aroud Rs 1.65 crore. Besides 18,000 US dollars and 118 British pounds have also been found, sources said.
Besides incriminating documents related to the case, documents on 17 additional properties, 48 bank accounts and jewellery worth Rs 80.72 lakh have also been recovered.
The Bishop has been accused of siphoning off around Rs 2.70 crore collected from fees of educational institutions, as the chairman of the Board of Education, Church of North India, Jabalpur Diocese.
It has been alleged that the money was earmarked for religious entities and personal use.
According to Devendra Pratap Singh, a senior officer of the Economic Offences Wing, they received a complaint which alleged that Bishop PC Singh siphoned off fees collected from students of educational institutes run by the Board, for religious entities and his personal usage.
It was also alleged that PC Singh changed the name of the original society and became its president.
During the investigation, it was prima facie established that around Rs 2.70 crore had been siphoned off between 2004-05 and 2011-12.
"We are probing all aspects… the possibility of the money being used in illegal religious conversion activities will also be probed," the officer said.
PC Singh, who is reportedly in Germany, is accused in 84 criminal cases linked to fraud and forgery in several states including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Jharkhand and Rajasthan.