Gospel for Asia (GFA), the second largest mission organisation in the US, is facing a lawsuit for fraud and misuse of charitable donations.
The Texas-based Christian charity, led by KP Yohannan, is considered one of the most significant missionary movements of the 20th century. However it now faces legal action for allegedly "soliciting hundreds of millions of dollars in charitable donations, and then misdirecting the money into the personal empire" of Yohannan.
Blogger Warren Throckmorton, who has followed the case closely and made several revelations of GFA misconduct, revealed that the Dallas-based Stanley Law Group (SLG) initiated the lawsuit.
A statement from SLG posted to Throckmorton's blog on patheos read: "The lawsuit alleges that Gospel for Asia, Yohannan, and other GFA officials misrepresented to donors how, when, and where charitable donations would be spent, and funneled vast amounts of the hundreds of millions of dollars GFA has collected into for-profit businesses and an expensive headquarters."
Marc Stanley, lead attorney on the case, said: "K.P. Yohannan and his Gospel for Asia inner circle have been exploiting the goodwill and generosity of devout Christians around the country for years. Gospel for Asia should return all the money it's taken from donors who thought they were contributing to charity."
GFA, formerly a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), had its membership revoked in October 2015 due to "failure to comply with multiple ECFA standards".
The charity was a charter member of the ECFA, making its removal a significant development. The evangelical watchdog was founded in 1979 as an accreditation organisation to police the financial integrity of Christian organisations. Membership is regarded as a stamp of approval by donors.
Christian Today previously reported how a leaked ECFA has painted a damning picture of financial mismanagement at GFA.
