Kochi: The Income-Tax department has provisionally attached the controversial 64 cents at Kakkanad, sold by the Ernakulam – Angamaly archdiocese after it found that the deal involved big unaccounted money.
It also temporarily attached assets including the house of Saju Varghese, the alleged middleman in the deal, and that of VK Group, the buyer of the land. It served a notice on Mr Varghese to pay fine of Rs 10 crore.
It was found that Mr Varghese and VK Group concealed a transaction worth more than Rs 20 crore. Earlier, the IT department had frozen the bank accounts of several persons involved in the deal.
With the fresh findings and action against the middleman and the buyer, the inquiry into the deal is now likely to point to the leadership of the Syro-Malabar Church, especially Cardinal Mar George Alencherry.
The serious allegation against the Church leadership over the dubious land deal had resulted in changes in power structure in the Church with Mar Alencherry’s powers clipped.
The Church has been at the centre of the controversy in connection with a series of land deals involving five properties in which the Church purportedly suffered a loss of Rs 18.17 crore.
