NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against US-based Christian mission The Timothy Initiative (TTI) and several of its functionaries for alleged violations of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), following allegations that foreign debit cards were used to withdraw crores of rupees in cash from ATMs across India, including in Naxal violence-affected regions, people familiar with the development said on Wednesday.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had written to the CBI in July seeking a probe into the matter. In its FIR filed on August 27, the CBI named several TTI functionaries as accused, including Jonathan S Rajan, the organisation’s overall operations head; Micah Mark, a key financial operative who was apprehended at Kempegowda International Airport on April 24 while carrying 24 debit cards; finance head Ajit Verghese Mathai; field functionaries Bablu Kurmi, Supreme Joy and Varghese Chako; unidentified individuals; and the organisation itself. The accused have been booked for alleged violations of provisions governing the receipt and utilisation of foreign funds under the FCRA, criminal conspiracy under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and offences under the Information Technology Act.
According to the CBI FIR, reviewed by HT, the accused allegedly acted as part of a conspiracy to “coordinate and withdraw foreign funds through various ATMs across India using foreign debit cards” issued by US-based Truist Bank.
The CBI said that funds worth approximately Rs 92.55 crore (USD 9,995,240) were allegedly withdrawn between November 2025 and April 2026 in violation of FCRA provisions.
The agency further alleged that around Rs 44 crore was withdrawn using foreign debit cards from ATMs across multiple states, including Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Assam, between January 2024 and March 2026.
TTI is not registered in India under the FCRA, which regulates the receipt and utilisation of foreign contributions by organisations. Its website currently displays a message stating, “Country Blocked. Access to this page is forbidden.” Officials said the website became inaccessible in India and that cloud-based data maintained by the organisation in the US was remotely deleted from its back-end servers shortly after the agency conducted searches.
The ED raided the organisation and its office-bearers in April under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), during which it uncovered the alleged irregularities. The agency had alleged that foreign funds were being routed to exert influence in Naxal-affected areas.
While rejecting a plea filed by TTI office-bearers, the Karnataka High Court observed that “one of the gravest threats to national security in the present times is the clandestine funding of extremism” and said such funding acts as “the oxygen that enables extremist movements to survive and proliferate”.
According to the CBI FIR filed on the basis of the ED’s reference, Mark had made multiple trips abroad and returned with foreign debit cards. The FIR described Mark as a key figure in TTI’s financial operations in India and stated that more than 1,000 such debit cards had been distributed across the country over the past few years.
Following the ED raids in April this year, the TTI Global portal (www.tti-global.org) became inaccessible in India. The CBI alleged that data stored on cloud servers, as well as data recovered from a seized laptop, was subsequently deleted remotely from the back-end servers and laptop maintained by TTI in the US.
The CBI further alleged that Rajan and Mathai ensured that funds withdrawn from ATMs were used for TTI’s activities across India, which allegedly included “training, preaching and brainwashing of poor people leading to left wing extremism, among others”.
According to the FIR, Rajan oversaw TTI’s training programmes, including the selection of trainers and venues. As operations head, he allegedly sent fund requirements to the finance team, which then arranged funding from TTI, USA through the foreign debit cards.
The FIR further stated that Chacko, Joy and Kurmi functioned at the field level, withdrawing cash through the foreign debit cards from multiple ATMs and using the funds for TTI’s activities.
