Faith, Fortune and Fraud: How a Web of “Prophets” Turned Religion into Business in Punjab 

October 24, 2025

When the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached crores worth of land and properties belonging to self-styled “Prophet” Baljinder Singh, it did more than expose a case of corruption — it tore open a much deeper malaise. Behind the façade of healing crusades and miracle ministries, a disturbing pattern has taken root in Punjab: the systematic abuse of faith for money, power, and exploitation.

The Gospel of Greed

Baljinder Singh, who projected himself as a preacher and miracle worker, had quietly amassed huge tracts of agricultural and residential land in Ropar, Nawanshahr, Machiwara, and SAS Nagar. His declared income was modest — a few lakhs over five years — yet the value of his holdings ran into crores. The ED found that these assets were funded through illegal mining, forged documents, and the laundering of black money.

What was presented to his followers as “divine prosperity” turned out to be a classic criminal enterprise. Fake slips, fraudulent paperwork, and manipulation of land titles created an underground empire built on deceit. For thousands of poor villagers who saw in him a man of God, the revelation of his criminal web is a profound betrayal.

Faith as a Marketplace

Over the last decade, Punjab has witnessed a proliferation of self-styled pastors and prophets who run massive congregations under the guise of “healing ministries.” These are not traditional churches or community institutions, but personality-driven cults that blend faith, commerce, and performance.

Many of these preachers target the economically distressed — the indebted farmer, the daily-wage worker, the chronically ill. They promise healing, employment, visas, or instant prosperity. Those who convert or donate are assured blessings; those who hesitate are warned of divine punishment. Underneath these theatrics lies a sophisticated network of cash collections, property purchases, and black money circulation that thrives on religious fervor.

Conversion is rarely about belief — it’s about manipulation. Vulnerable families are offered food, money, or “miracle healing” as bait. Once hooked, they are drawn deeper into the cult’s ecosystem, expected to donate regularly or hand over property “for the ministry.”

From the Pulpit to the Prison

Baljinder Singh’s case is far from unique. Another self-styled preacher, once celebrated across social media for his flamboyant sermons, was convicted of rape after luring a woman under the pretext of helping her migrate abroad. The court found that he had drugged, assaulted, and filmed her — using his religious influence to silence her. This is how power operates when cloaked in piety: unquestioned, unaccountable, and often unpunished.

Such incidents have become a dark undercurrent of the evangelical surge in Punjab. Behind the loud music, staged healings, and mass baptisms, there are repeated allegations of sexual exploitation of women, coercion, and even mysterious deaths during “faith healing” sessions. In some congregations, followers are told to stop medical treatment and rely solely on prayer — a cruel manipulation that has, in several reported cases, ended in tragedy.

Money Laundering in the Name of God

Investigations reveal that proceeds from these ministries are routinely parked in benami properties, agricultural land, and foreign accounts. Some have even registered multiple trusts or societies to divert donations and evade taxes. Expensive SUVs, luxury homes, and international travel sit uneasily with the image of spiritual sacrifice they preach on stage.

The problem is not religion — it is the vacuum of regulation. While temples and gurdwaras are often under the scanner of charity boards and local committees, these private ministries operate outside any institutional oversight. Their finances are opaque, their ownership structures murky, and their dealings with foreign donors barely monitored. The misuse of religious liberty has created an unregulated empire of faith where wealth flows freely and accountability is absent.

The Victims: Faithful, Poor, and Unprotected

The people who suffer most are those at the bottom — the poor, the uneducated, the desperate. They come seeking hope and healing, only to be stripped of dignity, faith, and sometimes life savings. Women, in particular, are easy targets. Many are promised marriage, miracles, or protection, and end up trapped in cycles of abuse and silence.

There is an urgent moral and legal imperative to act. Religious freedom does not mean freedom to deceive, convert through inducement, or accumulate black wealth in the name of charity. The right to practice faith must never become the right to exploit it.

Reclaiming Faith from Fraud

To clean up this rot, the state must go beyond token raids. First, every religious trust or ministry that receives donations — domestic or foreign — must undergo a transparent financial audit. Second, property acquired by preachers or faith-based organisations should be publicly declared and traceable to legitimate income. Third, coercive or incentive-based conversions must be treated as criminal acts under existing laws.

Victims of sexual exploitation or financial fraud by such preachers need safe reporting channels, free from community intimidation. Law enforcement must treat these cases not as isolated moral lapses but as organised crimes exploiting the poor under a religious disguise.

Finally, society itself must reject the culture of blind worship of personalities. Real spirituality uplifts; it doesn’t trade in fear, miracle promises, or gold watches.

The Last Word

The story of Punjab’s “prophets” is not the story of Christianity — it is the story of corruption wearing the mask of divinity. It is about greed disguised as grace and crime disguised as conversion.

The faithful deserve better. The poor deserve truth, not manipulation. And religion deserves protection from those who turn its pulpit into a private business empire.

When faith becomes a front for fraud, it is not God who fails — it is our collective vigilance.