How a Clerk Stole Rs 100 Crore from India Richest Temple

In a startling expose, CV Ravi Kumar, a long time clerk at Pedda Jeeyanagar Mutt in Tirumala, has been accused for diverting almost ₹100 crore over three decades. His daily duty was handling temple donations, which usually ranged from ₹4 to ₹6 crore everyday. This trusted role however also became the loophole that let him misuse the system for personal benefit. The case come into public eye in April 2023 when a security guard noticed suspicious activity on temple’s CCTV recording. When Kumar was confronted and searched, officials found nine $100 bills hidden inside his clothes. This shocking discovery led to his suspension and arrest. Later investigation revealed a long pattern of siphoning money through many years, showing that the scam was not a one time act.

What surprise many is the soft punishment given inspite of the huge scale of the crime. Limited action by temple administration raised questions about accountability and weak monitoring in the system. People ask how such misappropriation could continue without being checked for so long, and why stronger safeguards were not applied earlier.

The controversy also pushed for change. Religious leaders and public voices are demanding stronger security measures, proper auditing, and transparent reporting inside temples and trusts. Experts warn that without such checks, more cases of breach of faith and financial misconduct can again appear.

Meanwhile, authorities are still digging deep to understand the full scale of Kumar’s hidden wealth. Efforts are on to trace assets and find if someone else helped him to run the scheme. Recovering the stolen funds is difficult task, but investigation officers claim the process is still ongoing. This scandal highlight a bigger truth: even sacred institutions are not safe from greed. Temples carry not only money, but also faith of millions of devotees. When that trust gets broken, the damage is bigger than financial loss. It hurts the emotional relation between people and their worship place.

The story of CV Ravi Kumar serve as reminder that systems of faith needs not just devotion but also vigilance. With proper transparency and accountability, only then institutions can protect the money entrusted to them and also the belief of people they represent.