SHILLONG, May 28: The strange case of embezzlement of Rs 4.5 crore out of Mawkhar Presbyterian Church’s tithes refuses to die down. What tumbled out unwittingly in 2017 is an admitted inside job but nobody in authority is prepared to act against the guilty.
The church authorities apart, police and Income Tax department appear to be maintaining a studied silence.
But at whose behest is the critical question.
A recap of the case history will tell us that in 2017, the Church Committee received an Income Tax notice. This forced the Committee to get the accounts (financial transactions) from 2015-2017 audited. Two persons were put in charge of the auditing. They reported to the Treasurer, Salan War that over Rs 1 crore was missing from different heads of church accounts. War, however, kept that information to himself and never informed the Committee.
In 2019, another Income Tax notice landed at the Church’s lap. Again, two persons were entrusted to audit the financial transactions from 2017-2019. In what is a repeat of the last audit this time too, the auditors found over Rs 2 crore missing. At this time, the Treasurer was on a trip to Europe. The matter was reported to the Committee. Accordingly, the chowkidar of the Mawkhar Presbyterian Church, one Alfast Bareh who incidentally is also a contractor with a thriving business, was summoned to give his statement on the matter. Bareh was summoned because he was the one entrusted with depositing the Sunday collection from all the services held on a particular Sunday, at the State Bank of India, Burra Bazar Branch at Motphran.
Bareh surprised all by confessing that he had misappropriated Rs 3.26 crore apparently to fund his business. He also submitted a list of government and private contracts he was engaged in and said he would refund the money as and when he received the outstanding bills.
The church members were informed of this crime in the last week of July 2019 and they put pressure on the Committee to file an FIR. Accordingly, the Church Committee filed an FIR on August 3, 2019. Interestingly, after the FIR was filed the Treasurer Salan War drafted another FIR which he said was to be filed by the church, stating that based on the first FIR, it is possible that he might be arrested. Accordingly, the Church filed the second FIR at the same police station. The Investigating Officer tore up the first FIR in the presence of the complainants and registered the second one.
Following intense pressure from church members who regularly paid their tithes and offerings with the idea that it would be used for missionary activities and to maintain and build schools in distant villages, a 5-member Committee was constituted to detect the actual amount that was missing. The Committee found that amount to be Rs 4.5 crore.
The Church then constituted a legal team to look into the case. Church members say there is a clear attempt to bury the case. From 2019 to 2022 three general body meetings were held. After the third meeting the Church Committee tried to get a consensus from the church members to quash the case.
The Mawkhar Presbyterian Church started a mission in Sohmylleng village in 2010. In 2012 a school was started and a building constructed. The mission continued its work without any report to the Mawkhar Church from 2010 till date. It is learnt that the amount spent by the Church for this mission runs into crores of rupees.
Several questions arise which have frustrated not a few church members and regular contributors. The questions they are asking are (a) when the money was missing since 2017 how was it audited in a manner that the wrong amount was reflected in the annual report of the church between 2013-2017? (b) The last annual report of the Church was published in 2017. The 2018 report was not published because a few people in the inside circle already know of the missing amounts.
In March 2019, Rev D Rymbai was pastor-in charge and also the moderator of the Synod when Rev K Pyrtuh was suspended in March 2019. The missing amount was detected in June 2019. After the FIR was filed on this matter on August 3, 2019 Rev D Rymbai stopped attending church. In what is seen as rewarding crime and misdemeanors the KJP Synod Sepngi inducted Rev Rymbai to serve as Secretary of Revival (a redundant committee). Instead of holding Rev Rymbai accountable for overseeing the defalcation of church funds, he was instead honoured with another position, church insiders allege.
The Treasurer and Secretary of the Sohmylleng Mission are in-laws. The former never reported the anomalies in the 2017 audit report and also never gave a financial report on the Sohmylleng mission till date which includes the amount paid for land acquired etc. Alfast Bareh confessed to having taken Rs 3.26 crore. The amount missing from the accounts is Rs 4.5 crore. The question is who took the remaining amount and why is there a “go-slow” policy on the part of the police and judiciary? Who is putting pressure on these two institutions?
Considering that the Church deposits per week in the bank total over one lakh rupees over and above personal contributions of affluent church members whose influence over the Mawkhar Church is so overwhelming, they would rather this crime is buried to save the reputation of the Church and some of its leading lights.
Another question that church members are raising is why the Income Tax department has stopped sending notices since 2019. Has anyone pulled the strings here? These uncomfortable queries reverberate silently among the laity defying any response from all concerned.
