
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 25, 1990                   TAG: 9005250647
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A12   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: NEW DELHI, INDIA                                LENGTH: Short

AUDIT REVEALS MISUSE OF CATHOLIC CHARITY AID

A U.S. audit of American aid to Roman Catholic charities in India says bishops, priests and nuns misused millions of dollars in funds, and the U.S. Embassy said today that an investigation is under way.

The audit by the U.S. accounting firm Price Waterhouse said officials in India's Roman Catholic Church, which receives about $25 million in American food each year, drew up bogus lists of food recipients and used donations to run businesses.

Clergy also purposely exaggerated the amount of aid they distributed and filed false reports to hide the abuses, the audit said.

The audit was ordered by the Inspector General's office of the U.S. Agency for International Development and focused on Catholic Relief Services, a Baltimore-based charity, which gives food to 4,600 Indian Catholic organizations. They in turn distribute the food to the needy, mostly children and pregnant women.

- Associated Press

by CNB