CBI books US-based Christian mission for violation of FCRA provisions

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a case to investigate the violation of foreign contribution regulation act (FCRA) by the US-based global Christian mission, The Timothy Initiative (TTI), in connection with the alleged illegal use of foreign debit cards to withdraw cash worth crores of rupees in certain Naxal-affected regions, people familiar with the development said on Wednesday

Published on: Sep 17, 2026, 08:01:30 IST

By Neeraj Chauhan, New Delhi

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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a case to investigate the violation of foreign contribution regulation act (FCRA) by the US-based global Christian mission, The Timothy Initiative (TTI), in connection with the alleged illegal use of foreign debit cards to withdraw cash worth crores of rupees in certain Naxal-affected regions, people familiar with the development said on Wednesday.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) wrote to CBI in July seeking a probe in the matter.

In its first information report (FIR) filed on August 27, CBI has named several functionaries of TTI, including Jonathan S Rajan (overall operations head), Micah Mark, the key financial operative, who was caught on April 24 at Kempegowda airport while carrying 24 debit cards, Ajit Verghese Mathai, finance head, and three field functionaries — Bablu Kurmi, Supreme Joy, Varghese Chako, unknown individuals and the organisation itself as accused. They have been charged for violating sections pertaining to receiving and use of foreign funds under the FCRA, criminal conspiracy under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Information Technology Act.

CBI has alleged in the FIR, seen by HT, that the accused, as part of a conspiracy, “coordinated and withdrew foreign funds through various ATMs across India using foreign debit cards, issued by Truist Bank of USA”.

Funds worth around ₹92.55 crore (USD 99,95,240), in contravention of legal provisions of FCRA, were withdrawn from November 2025 to April 2026, it added.

“Further, funds amounting to approx ₹44 crore were withdrawn using foreign debit cards across multiple states such as Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Assam etc, from January 2024 to March 2026,” CBI said.

TTI is not registered in India under FCRA — foreign funding law that allows receiving funds from abroad and utilising them. Its website leads to a message that says, “Country blocked. Access to this page is forbidden”. Officials said the weblink became inaccessible in India and the cloud-based data maintained by the company in the US was remotely deleted from the back-end servers soon after the agency conducted the searches.

ED had raided the organisation and its office bearers in April under the foreign exchange management act (FEMA) during which it found the irregularities. The agency had alleged that these foreign funds were moved for Naxal influence.

The Karnataka High Court, while rejecting a plea of TTI office bearers, ruled that “one of the gravest threats to national security in the present times is the clandestine funding of extremism…”.

The FIR further alleged that Mark had made multiple foreign trips and returned with foreign debit cards. “Mark is a key person in the financial operations of TTI in India. Over 1,000 such debit cards have been distributed in India over the past few years,” it said.

After ED raids in April this year, TTI Global portal became inaccessible for India. “Further, the data, which is maintained on cloud, as well as in the seized laptop has been deleted from the back-end through remote access of the servers and laptop, which are maintained by TTI, USA”.

Rajan and Mathai, CBI claims, ensured the funds withdrawn from ATMs to be used for the activities of TTI across India which includes “training, preaching and brainwashing of poor people leading to left wing extremism, among others”.

“He (Rajan) oversees the training organised by TTI, the selection of individuals who conduct such training, and the identification of venues. As operations head, he sends fund requirements to the finance team, which in turn arranges illegal funding from TTI, USA through the foreign debit cards in question. Chacko, Joy and Kurmi are field-level functionaries, who have withdrawn funds in cash using the foreign debit cards at multiple ATMs and used the same for advancing the purposes of TTI,” the FIR mentioned.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Chauhan
Neeraj Chauhan is a senior journalist with Hindustan Times and an investigative reporter specialising in national security, terrorism, organised crime, narcotics, corruption, financial crime and complex investigations. With over 21 years of experience across Hindustan Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express and The Pioneer, he has built deep expertise in India’s internal security and law-enforcement landscape. Neeraj has extensively covered India’s principal investigative, intelligence and security agencies, including the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, R&AW, MHA and other central security forces. His work has included deeply reported investigations into terrorism, terror financing, cross-border crime, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, financial fraud and political and corporate corruption. He has reported on some of the most significant terror attacks and security developments in India over the past two decades, including the Delhi serial blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the recent Pahalgam attack. His reporting has also chronicled the rise and decline of the Indian Mujahideen, the activities and subsequent crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), Islamist extremist networks, the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, insurgencies in the Northeast and Maoist violence. Some of Neeraj’s major breaking stories are in Aryan Khan drug case, Sushant Singh Rajput suicide, interception of a 3,000-kg Afghan heroin consignment worth about ₹21,000 crore at Mundra port, Sri Lanka easter bombings, Aarushi-Hemraj murders in Noida, 2G scam, coal block allocation scam, AgustWestland VVIP chopper deal and major bank frauds and extradition cases involving Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. His reporting is marked by an ability to cultivate sources, analyse confidential and complex documents, and follow investigations over several years—from the initial breakthrough to chargesheets, trials and international legal proceedings. He specialises in making complicated security and investigative developments accessible while examining their wider implications for governance and public policy. A Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow at the University of Westminster, Neeraj also spent time at the Financial Times as part of the fellowship. He was also a Robert Bosch Media Ambassadors India-Germany Fellow, studying at the University of Tübingen and working with Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin. He has previously taught investigative journalism and crime reporting as a guest faculty member at the Times School of Journalism. Over more than two decades, Neeraj has established himself as an authoritative voice on India’s national security and investigative landscape, with his reporting closely followed by officials, investigators, lawyers, policymakers and readers seeking insight into some of the country’s most complex and consequential developments.Read More

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