By: Babu Thomas
Monday, 26 October 2009, 16:22 (IST)Font Scale:A A A
The US-based Episcopal Relief & Development on Friday filed a civil case against the Church of South India (CSI) and its former leadership in relation to the alleged swindling of tsunami fund.

In a statement, the international relief and development agency of the Episcopal Church, explained that the legal action was taken to `ensure funds are properly used to benefit the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.`

`The sole objective of our ongoing efforts to recover the tsunami relief funds is to fulfill our original intent to faithfully administer the funds that are received on behalf of vulnerable people,` it stated.

`As this is a legal matter, we cannot comment further about the current situation. We have faith in the Indian judicial system and believe this case will be handled fairly.`

The major fraud in the handling of the overseas fund was uncovered after an investigation by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Chennai police.

The investigation revealed that the former general secretary of the CSI, Pauline Sathyamurthy, and her husband had siphoned off Rs 7.5 crore from the tsunami relief fund.

The money, the police claims, apart from being spent for luxury goods, was distributed among family relatives. The police have already arrested Pauline`s daughter Benedicta, and a relative Sunil.

According to the Episcopal Relief & Development, two years ago it approached the local Church authorities with concerns `when CSI failed to complete the financial reporting and required audits outlined in our agreement for 2005 and 2006.`

`As a result, we suspended work with CSI and implemented an in-depth effort to account for the missing funds. After a lengthy process, we deeply regret that we have been forced to take legal action,` it added.

The group clarified that its partnership with CSI was only a portion of its tsunami response work, and `as per standard plans and procedures, clean audits were completed with our church partners in both North India and Sri Lanka.`

The Church of South India is the second largest church after the Roman Catholic.