Church of the Churchless

Singh brothers turn on each other. RSSB guru in middle of the mess.

Today someone emailed me a link to a MSN story about the Singh brothers, Malvinder and Shivinder, and their tangled relationship with their relative, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas in India.
Download Shivinder Singh likens Malvinder Singh to 'Bhasmasur'

Read on for the latest developments in this fascinating drama. It'll be interesting to see what conclusions Indian authorities draw after investigating the complex web of fraudulent financial transactions involving a bunch of individuals, public companies, and shell companies.

I've boldfaced the mentions of Dhillon and RSSB.

Shivinder Singh likens Malvinder Singh to 'Bhasmasur'; Malvinder says his brother's 'sanyas' was fake: NCLT filings


© Amal KS/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

Former Religare promoter Shivinder Singh, in his NCLT filing in July, called his brother Malvinder Singh 'Bhasmasur', a mythological demon, while saying that he was suffering from a personality disorders. He had also sought a "forensic probe" of RHC Holding.

Threatening to sue the younger brother, Malvinder, in his NCLT filing in August, said he deserved the right to sue his brother for making "scurrilous insinuations". He also alleged that Shivinder was trying to take favour from Radha Saomi Satsang Beas (RSSB) because he owed its money.

The hearings in the NCLT case will be held in December.

"MMS (Malvinder Man Singh) has turned out to be the mythological 'Bhasmasur' for the RHC group. Wherever he became head of a business — Ranxbaxy, Fortis, Religare, SRL Labs Ltd — he decimated the value to zero for the RHC group," Shivinder told the NCLT filing.

Notably, both of them are currently in jail as Delhi's Saket court had sent the Singh brothers and 3 others to judicial custody till October 31 in a fund misappropriation case related to Religare Finvest Ltd. The other three accused, former Religare CMD Sunil Godhwani, and former senior executives Kavi Arora and Anil Saxena are also in jail.

In their NCLT filings, both the brothers accused each other of large-scale fraud and corruption. Shivinder sought that Malvinder be removed as the holding company's director while urging NCLT to take over its board. He also asked the court to issue a restraining order against Malvinder from entering the RHC office and even communicating with any of its employees.

Malvinder told in his reply that Shivinder was hurling accusations to seek favours from RSSB as he wished to become its chief. He also alleged that Shivinder filed the suit against him only to stop RHC from demanding its money from Gurinder Singh Dhillon-led RSSB. He said Shivinder had done "large scale diversion of funds from FHL, RHC, REL etc to Dhillon (chief of RSSB) and the entities under his (Dhillon) control".

As per Shivinder's filing, he's a 50 per cent owner of RHC and had an established track record of value creation by building Fortis from scratch into India's second-largest healthcare chain and turning it into one of RHC's most valuable businesses before his retirement in 2015.

"The petitioner no. 2 (Shivinder) is of the firm belief that the continuous destruction of RHC's asset base can be arrested provided the 'Bhasmasur' is dislodged from the helm of affairs of RHC," said Shivinder's petition.

While denying that Shivinder was solely involved in building and running of FHL, Malvinder said: "...the Petitioner number 2 (Shivinder) had been actively involved in all businesses of the group including the Respondent no. 1 (Malvinder)." He said Shivinder was falsely claiming before all the investigating agencies, regulators and courts that he was under 'Sanyas' (asceticism) from the corporate world from January 2016 till late 2017.

Urging the court to punish him for perjury, Malvinder said Shivinder "continued as a director of all companies, listed/unlisted, in the group", and that he continued to draw Rs 43.5 lakh monthly salary from two key subsidiaries of Malvinder's company. He also said during his 'sanyas', Shivinder attended numerous board meets and used to draw all the perquisites from listed and unlisted companies, including all his foreign travels, his cars and household expenses.

He accused Shivinder of protecting Dhillon from debts and "possible investigations and liability towards Daiichi (Sankyo)." The younger brother said Malvinder had sought Rs 1,000 crore from him to cede control of RHC. Demanding status quo on its assets and shareholdings, Shivinder asked the NCLT to appoint two independent directors and change account signatories.

The Singh brothers sold Ranbaxy to Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo in 2008 for Rs 10,000 crore. In 2013, Daiichi paid $500 as felony charges in the US for selling adulterated medicines, following which it filed an arbitration case against the Singh brothers.

I disagree with Stephen Batchelor about Buddhist truth claims

A couple of days ago I wrote, "I like Stephen Batchelor's take on Buddhism."

In that blog post I said that after I listened to the end of Batchelor's lengthy discussion with Sam Harris that Harris shared on his Waking Up iPhone app, I'd share anything interesting that I heard.

Well, what I heard Batchelor say in the last five minutes does strike me as both interesting and highly debatable.

Harris asked a good question of Batchelor: currently, what are your most important disagreements with Buddhist doctrine?

To his credit, Batchelor started off by saying that he can't stand dogmatic assertions by Buddhist practitioners. Since Harris had mentioned rebirth/reincarnation as a tenet that Batchelor probably disagreed with, I figured that Batchelor would agree with Harris.

Instead, Batchelor said he wasn't at all interested in the truth claims of Buddhism. Rather, what concerned him was: "How does your belief in reincarnation help you live better?" That was the central question for him.

OK. I can sort of understand where Batchelor was coming from. His focus is on practicality, not theology. If a religious belief has a practical benefit, then it gets a thumbs-up from Batchelor.

Not from me, though, not automatically.

If a religious belief isn't true -- and almost certainly rebirth/reincarnation is a fantasy -- that strikes me as a big argument against accepting it, no matter how it makes someone feel. Harris also sounded surprised at Batchelor's casual attitude toward the truth claims of Buddhism.

Sure, an argument can be made that if a religious person finds satisfaction in an untrue belief, and the belief helps them to live better, there's no harm in this.

I'd agree, so long as the belief remains private and personal. But this isn't how religious beliefs operate. They become dogmatic assertions that have real effects in the real world.

For example, reincarnation has been used as an argument for India's caste system, vestiges of which still exist in that country. (Maybe more than "vestiges.")

Likewise, a related belief in karma that extends over multiple lives can lead to an uncompassionate they deserve what they're getting attitude toward the less fortunate members of a society. So I hope Batchelor rethinks his view that it doesn't matter if a religious belief is true or not, so long as it appeals to the believer.

On a lighter note...

I like Stephen Batchelor's take on Buddhism

Over the years I believe I've read all of Stephen Batchelor's books about his somewhat heretical attitude toward Buddhism. Some blog posts about his books can be perused here, here, here, and here. 

Batchelor correctly argues that for Buddhism to make sense and be useful, its religious/supernatural aspects need to be set aside. 

Stephen Batchelor

So no karma extending over multiple lives, no reincarnation, no mythical entities inhabiting non-material realms of existence.

In this regard Batchelor agrees with Sam Harris. Both Batchelor and Harris have many years of experience with Buddhist meditation and teachings. So I've been enjoying listening to a lengthy discussion between Batchelor and Harris that is on Harris' Waking Up iPhone app that I subscribe to.

Today I heard an interesting dialogue about how they view enlightenment and the familiar Buddhist adage that life is suffering.

Because Batchelor and Harris largely agree on most things Buddhist'y, their exchange wasn't so much a debate, but an exchange of views, with each man trying to understand where the other was coming from, as the saying goes.

Harris is more into enlightenment as an end in itself, where that word basically means seeing through the illusion of a separate self or soul, and recognizing that everything we experience is an alteration of consciousness.

In his view, it is always possible to step back (a favorite Harris saying) and view an emotion, thought, or whatever as something that arises in consciousness, rather than a substantial entity -- thereby defusing the power of a disturbing or unproductive state of mind.

Batchelor agrees with the value of doing this, but prefers to speak about non-reactivity, as I noted in a blog post. 

In his book "After Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age," Bachelor has some interesting observations about nirvana. Prior to saying that nirvana can be understood in one of two ways, as either the ceasing of reactivity or as freedom and independence from reactivity, he gave this view of reactivity:

We tend to regard the appearance of such a fearful world as a projection of our mental state.

But this reading of the situation is based on the cultural habit of interpreting experience psychologically. No matter how much we tell ourselves that the fearfulness of the world is just a projection, such reassurance does not significantly alter either how the world appears to us or how we feel about it.

From the perspective of a dharma practitioner, the task of "letting go of what arises" entails releasing one's grip on the whole picture: angry-me-facing-hostile-situation. 

Letting go is not simply a question of breathing deeply to calm my rattled mind; I need to cleanse the doors of my perception. This requires suspending the default habit of seeing the world as being hostile, desirable, or boring. One of the most effective ways of suspending that habit is to train yourself to comprehend the world as an infinitely suffering world.

Now, I don't claim to fully understand what Bachelor means.

However, I have at least an indistinct grasp of what he's getting at, and that's good enough for me. The way I see it, Bachelor doesn't view life as ever being free of suffering. But it is possible to lessen the impact of suffering.

Now, the differences between Harris and Batchelor in this regard are subtle. In large part they matter only to people like themselves -- so knowledgeable about Buddhist history, teachings, and writings, they can intelligently discuss the finer points of Buddhism.

That said, there was one area where I believe I understood Batchelor quite well, and agree with him to a greater extent than I agree with Harris.

Today I heard Batchelor say that individual enlightenment or ending suffering shouldn't be the final goal of a Buddhist practitioner. Instead, being a good ethical person should be. Thus our inner work should be viewed as a foundation for wise compassionate actions and relationships in our everyday life.

I see this as akin to a combination shot in pool, or billiards. You're striking a certain ball with the intention that it will hit another ball that's your primary interest.

Which isn't totally different from how Harris views things. He said that the more he can tone down or eliminate his worries, anxieties, fears, negative emotions, and such, the better his relationships with other people will be. Which makes perfect sense. It's much easier to be around someone loving and happy than someone angry and sad.

Thus what makes meditation important isn't only how it impacts how we experience the world. Equally important, if not more so, is how an inner realization affects our outer relationships.

If a spiritual practice isn't making us a better human being, it isn't serving a purpose.

This is clear when we consider how often supposedly enlightened or awakened people engage in bad behaviors. There's simply no excuse for devotees of these people to say things like, "It isn't possible to judge the behavior of an enlightened soul."

Sure it is. Are they honest, compassionate, loving, truthful, caring, generous, and so on? Are they acting like a normal good human being? If not, their so-called enlightenment or awakening is a fraud, bullshit. 

I've got a bit more of the Harris-Batchelor discussion to listen to. If I hear anything worth sharing in another blog post, I'll be sure to do that.

How the brain fools us into believing consciousness is immaterial

I love it! Because I loved The Matrix movie. There's something wildly appealing about our consciousness being deceived about the nature of reality in such a fashion that it is very difficult to escape the bounds of that deception.

The "it" that I'm loving is a book by Michael Graziano, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Princeton University. Rethinking Consciousness: A Scientific Theory of Subjective Experience is one of the best books I've read about the nature of consciousness, and I've read a lot of them.

Here's a 13-minute video where Graziano describes the key aspects of his Attention Schema Theory. 

And here's some excerpts from his book that provide a pretty good overview of the theory, especially if you watch the video first.

Graziano's approach explains why almost all people believe that they possess, or are, an immaterial consciousness. That just feels so real, so right, so immediately obvious. 

Which is exactly what the Attention Schema Theory predicts. A schema isn't the real thing. It is a simplified version of the thing. Evolution hasn't given us the ability to be aware of what the hundred billion or so neurons in the brain are doing.

Instead, the brain presents us with a view of the world, and of ourselves, that is functional, because it leaves out unnecessary details. Like, how the physical brain produces a metaphysical sense of consciousness and attention.

This passage describes why the Attention Schema Theory is believable. Covert attention refers to "a roving mental focus that can take in information apart from where the senses are pointed, like hearing sirens at a distance or recalling a memory." (from the book jacket)

In my view, the attention schema theory of consciousness has some inevitability to its logic. First, we know that the cortex uses covert attention. Second, we know that it needs to control that attention. Third, we know that the brain must have an internal model of attention in order to control that attention.

Fourth, we know that a detailed, fully accurate internal model is at best wasteful and at worst harmful to the process, and so, this internal model of attention would necessarily leave out the mechanistic details.

Therefore, and fifth, an attention schema would depict the self as containing an amorphous, nonphysical, internal power, an ability to know, to experience, and to respond, a roving mental focus -- the essence of covert attention without the underpinning details.

From first principles, if you had to build a well-functioning brain that had a powerful, cortical style of covert attention, you would build a machine that, drawing on the information constructed within it, would assert that it has a non-physical consciousness.

That cortical machine, of course, would not know that its subjective conscious experience is a construct or a simplification. It would take the nonphysical nature of conscious experience as a reality, because -- somewhat tautologically -- the brain only knows what it knows. It is captive to its own information. 

This passage describes why the attention schema in humans differs from that in computers, at least as they exist currently,

The human attention schema, having been shaped over hundreds of millions of years of evolution, has weird, biologically bumpy content.

It depicts attention as an invisible property, a mind that can experience or take possession of items, a force that empowers me to act and to remember, something that in itself has no physical substance but still lurks privately inside me.

The attention schema is more than a pointer to an object or a couple of lines of code. It builds a rich picture of attention and its predictable consequences. Build a machine with that kind of an attention schema, containing the weird, biologically messy lumps of the real one and you'll have a machine that can claim to be conscious in the same ways that humans do

No major technological hurdle stands in the way of an artificial attention schema. It is, arguably, the easiest and certainly the most circumscribed of all the components to build into the machine. 

And this passage gets at the objective nature of the Attention Schema Theory, in principle.

From the perspective of the attention schema theory, we can know, with objective certainty, whether a machine has the same kind of consciousness that people have. And direct personal experience is not the only way -- it's not even a very good way -- to know about one's own consciousness.

"Of course I'm conscious. I know I am, because I have a direct experience of it."

If that isn't the definition of a circular logic loop, I don't know what is. Consciousness is a direct experience. Therefore, the statement is tantamount to, "I know I'm conscious, because I'm conscious."

As I've said before, the machine is captive to the information it contains.

A particular internal model informs the machine that it has consciousness, and therefore it "knows" that it is conscious. The internal model informs the machine that its consciousness is without physical substance and forever private, and therefore it "knows" that its consciousness is unconfirmable by anyone else.

But an internal model is information, and information can be objectively measured. We don't need to rely on personal affirmation.

In the attention schema theory, to go about determining whether a machine is conscious, we should probe its innards to find out whether it contains an attention schema, and we should read the information within the attention schema.

We will then learn, with objective certainty, whether this is a machine that thinks it has a subjective conscious experience in the same way that we think we do. If it has the requisite information in that internal model, then, yes. If not, then no. All of this is, in principle, measurable and confirmable. 

A blog post from the past: Sant Mat cartoons

In the course of browsing through some old blog posts (I'm gathering material for another book based on my Church of the Churchless posts), I came across a fond memory:

"RSSB cartoons show lighter side of Sant Mat." Which started out this way.

While perusing a Christian web site that pokes fun at evangelical fundamentalism, today I suddenly thought Cartoons!

Back in 1999 I'd worked with a talented artist, Bart Goldman, on cartoons aimed at deflating the balloon of Radha Soami Satsang Beas seriousness (RSSB is a branch of Sant Mat).

Bart and I both were RSSB initiates. We met at a RSSB bhandara (large get-together), introduced by a mutual friend: Victoria, also an artist.

Several times Victoria leaned over to me and whispered, in a decided stage whisper, so Bart could hear, "He's very talented."

Since spiritual cartooning ideas had been running through my head, and my own artistic talent is limited to stick figures, I was eager to chat with Bart.

After some post-bhandara back and forth emailing, here's what Bart produced. I sent them off to RSSB headquarters in India but so far as I know, they haven't been published. At least, not all of them.

I give Bart most of the credit for the cartoons – unless you really like one of them, in which case it must have been my idea.

Here's one of the cartoons.

Head over to my original blog post to see the rest. (Click on a small image to enlarge it.)

Love hurts. But the pain of love also is pleasure.

Last Tuesday our older dog, ZuZu, had to be put to sleep. Which is another way of saying, euthanized. Tearfully, I was able to write about her last days on my HinesSight blog in It was a good day for our dog to die.

Of course, it wasn't a good day. Not really. I wanted ZuZu to live much longer. What I meant was explained in the first part of the blog post.

Don't get me wrong. I didn't want our beloved older dog, ZuZu, to die. But she did last night, put out of her misery by a dose of morphine at Salem's emergency vet clinic.

What made it a good day -- and now the tears are coming, as I figured they would when I set out to compose this blog post -- was how ZuZu and I got to have a pleasant day together yesterday, since she went downhill really fast, as I'll describe later on.

Monday ZuZu and I had come back from central Oregon a day before my wife and other dog, Mooka. So on Tuesday I didn't want to leave her alone when I went to exercise at the River Road Courthouse athletic club.

In the morning we'd had our usual walk through our rural property, across a creek, and along a community trail here in Spring Lake Estates. ZuZu seemed pretty normal at that point.

She was walking a bit less energetically than usual, which likely was a sign of what was to come. But when she spotted a squirrel, the old ZuZu came to life. Zoom! She raced ahead and excitedly stared into the branches of a tree the squirrel had escaped to.

I'm so happy that ZuZu was able to chase a squirrel on her last day alive. It was one of her favorite things to do. We also ran into some neighbors walking their dogs, so she got to greet them a final time. Nice.

What I'm most glad about is deciding to take ZuZu to the Minto Brown Dog Park after exercising. It was starting to drizzle. I thought about going straight home. But I thought, "ZuZu enjoys the dog park. I've got time. Let's do it."

Yeah, it's a cliche. Live every day as if it were your last. And usually it isn't practical, since we need to plan for future days. 

However, it's also true that we never know. When we will die. When a loved one will die. When a pet will die. I had no idea when I drove the short distance from our athletic club to the dog park that ZuZu would be dead in less than eight hours.

It's been tough. Really tough. I miss ZuZu a lot. That's the price of love: pain, when a loved one departs, or suffers, or otherwise tears at our heart. But it's a price well worth paying.

The day after ZuZu died, I opened the rear hatch of my VW GTI. What I saw brought more tears to my eyes, along with a bit of an inner smile.

The dog park I'd taken ZuZu to on the afternoon of her last day alive has an unpaved parking lot. When I picked ZuZu up to put her in the back of the car, her paws were dusty. This was the last time she rode in my car, since she was taken to the emergency vet clinic that night in my wife's car.

My first thought was, "I never want to wash off the paw prints." Yes, I know that will be necessary. Eventually. For now, I enjoy looking at the paw prints, because they remind me of ZuZu and of the good times we shared.

This is the reason I took her dog bowl and put it on a shelf in my office, along with a photo of ZuZu with our older dog at the time, Serena. A vase that was on the shelf graces the inside of the dog bowl. I did this after realizing that I had a couple of choices about how to deal with ZuZu's death.

Try to forget about it, or embrace it -- feeling the pain of love as acutely as possible.

I decided to go the embrace route. The first few days after ZuZu died I could barely bring myself to look at the dog bowl and the photo. I wondered if maybe it would be better to do the forget thing. But I can't forget ZuZu. I don't want to forget ZuZu.

Yes, love hurts. But a life without love isn't worth living. The death of a loved one hurts tremendously. Yet I'm glad that it does. The pain of love is also its pleasure.

RSSB guru and his family played large role in Singh brothers' downfall

Indian journalists continue to do an excellent job of reporting on the complex, Bollywood'ish drama of how Malvinder and Shivinder Singh's business empire disintegrated, in part because of their ties to a guru relative, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, who heads up the Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) spiritual organization.

Here's some excerpts from a well-researched Outlook story. I've focused on the passages that mention Dhillon and his family, which are boldfaced. Keep in mind that Sunil Godhwani was the guru's right hand man, personal treasurer, and reportedly once managed the finances of RSSB.
Download Riches To Rags: How Billionaire Ranbaxy Brothers Malvinder And Shivinder Singh Landed In Jail

Of course, it is about money. But in the case of Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, the two Ranbaxy brothers and billionaire scions who ended up in jail, the narrative goes beyond a simplistic explanation. The sub-plots, which emerge larger than the main one, include personal tussles between family members—father-­son and sibling rivalries—besides ­intense friendships that led to ­greater animosities. Add to this the mysterious veil of spiritual power—both the quest for it, and efforts to retain it.

The story spans three decades, starting when the two brothers were quite young, and their father, Parvinder Singh, and grandfather, Bhai Mohan Singh, were alive. It takes numerous twists and turns, curls and loops, and one can lose track of the critical markers along the journey. It comprises hundreds of dubious deals—money transfers from listed companies to sha­dowy private firms. Each tran­saction includes dozens of sub-deals so there is minimal connection between the points at which it originates and where it ends.

Even the mastermind, if there is only one, is difficult to pinpoint. Sometimes, the needle of suspicion points at Malvinder, the elder Singh, who took the key decisions. At other times, Shivinder appears to be the perpetrator, given his aggression and ambition. In some cases, Sunil ‘Sunny’ Godhwani, who handled the personal wealth of the two Singh brothers, looks guilty. The cast of characters also includes several faceless bankers, senior corporate managers, company auditors and fin­ancial experts.

However, there is a big shadow lurking sometimes in the forefront, and sometimes in the background. This is the towering personality of Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the spiritual head of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), which boasts of more than four million followers across the world. Gurinder Singh’s family members are allegedly active participants in the various firms inv­olved in the fraudulent deals—wife Shabnam, and two sons, Gurpreet and Gurkeerat. RSSB forms a common link between the various actors.

The cases against the Ranbaxy brothers are simple to understand. They all­egedly sip­honed off huge sums—one estimate puts it at Rs 10,000 crore—from the listed groups such as Ranbaxy, Fortis and Religare. They funnelled the money to their closely-held private firms. They retained a part of it, and shifted the bulk of the funds to other firms that were owned by Sunil Godhwani, Gurinder Singh and Shab­nam Dhillon, and Gurpreet and Gur­keerat Singh. Most of the money was used to buy real estate.

The loot was systemic, deliberate, in connivance with the bankers, financiers, and auditors, and against the interests of the investors in the listed companies. It was done over 12-13 years. The money was squandered as the values of the properties fell sharply during the ongoing crisis in real estate. When the scandals became public, each actor blamed the others. Malvinder found faults with Shivinder, Godhwani and the Dhillons; Shivinder with Malvinder and Godh­wani; the Dhillons with Godhwani; and Godhwani with the others.

“The notorious saga of Malvinder and Shivinder Singh seems to be at a conclusive stage and investigating agencies are tightening their grip on the pending cases,” says Sandeep Grover, partner, Ortis Law Offices. “At the same time, in a case filed by Japan’s Daiichi-Sankyo, which bought Ranbaxy in 2008, the Delhi High Court has asked the Singh brothers to reveal details of the assets transferred by them (from Ranbaxy, as alleged by the Japanese buyer).” The court has sought information from the other pla­yers like Gurinder Singh of RSSB.

...The two brothers sought ways to sell the company to a global player. In 2008, during the height of the global recession, Daiichi purchased the Singh family’s stake for $2 billion. It was a corporate coup. The brothers had found the perfect way to tide over a global financial crisis. They had emerged as the Kings of Cash. Finally, to bolster their personal wealth, the Ranbaxy brothers, according to a complaint by the Japanese buyer, illegally transferred Rs 2,900 crore from Ranbaxy to their private concerns.

By this time, the Singh siblings were close to RSSB, Gurinder Singh Dhillon and Godh­wani. The RSSB-Singh family proximity was decades-­old. Accor­ding to members of the sect, when Babaji, as Gurinder Singh is popularly known, shifted to Beas from Spain in 1990 to take over as the new head, the situation was complex. He was inexperienced, and there were int­ernal power struggles. Parvin­der, father of Mal­vinder and Shivinder, ­became Dhillon’s “biggest source of support”.

After Parvinder’s death, his two sons, who were deprived of their legitimate corporate power because of Brar, sought refuge and solace at Babaji’s feet. Sources contend it was the RSSB head, who caj­oled them to sell Ranbaxy. Godh­wani, a key member of the sect, became friends with the Singhs, or at least Shivinder, and emerged as their ­personal financial advisor. He helped them in moving the money out of Ranbaxy to personally owned ­companies, and take important ­inv­estment decisions.

The extent of proximity among these three families was evident in 2006. Malvinder and Shivinder transferred 13.5 million shares of a group firm, Religare Enterprises, to the two sons of Gurinder Singh, Gurpreet (6.25 million) and Gurkeerat (6.25 million), and Godhwani (1 million) at the face value of Rs 10 each. During the company’s IPO in 2007, these shares were allotted to public shareholders at Rs 185. The combined paper profits of the trio: a whopping Rs 227.5 crore. Godhwani was the head of Religare.

After the 2008 sale of Ranbaxy, three strands grew simultaneously. Publicly, the Singh siblings seemed like smart ent­repreneurs, who judiciously used the $2 billion from the Daiichi deal to grow their operations in hospitals (Fortis), and fin­ance (Religare). They had huge ambitions—they wished to build the largest hospital chain in the country, and open a bank. They became the darlings of the media and shareholders. Corporate obs­ervers felt they could do no wrong.

In private, away from prying eyes, the shenanigans continued. Massive amo­unts, raised as loans, were allegedly funnelled out of Religare and Fortis groups, and found their way to the private firms owned by the Ranbaxy brothers, Godhwani, and Gurinder Singh and his family members. One estimate is that Rs 2,300-2,700 crore was looted to buy commercial properties in various cities, including in Saket, New Delhi. Shabnam Dhillon, wife of the RSSB guru, was a dir­ector in some of the largest recipients.

...Malvinder, who claimed he got a death threat, said Shivinder, who wished to be RSSB’s next spiritual head, “bribed” the Dhillons. This was done by the transfer of loans raised by the three listed groups, Ranbaxy, Religare and Fortis, to the private firms owned by the Dhillons. Shiv­inder maintained that Godhwani had ­misused his powers as the manager of the Singhs’ personal wealth. The Dhillon family told the Delhi High Court that it had not ­received any money from the Singhs.

“These are meaningless allegations,” says a RSSB member. “There is no case of money laundering of the sect’s funds. RSSB’s money and assets are handled by a trust, and there can be no manipulation. Babaji’s name is being dragged into corporate scandals masterminded by others such as Godhwani, who bec­ame quite close to the Singhs in 2011.” Godhwani has largely been silent.

The courts will decide the destinies of these characters. The fall of the Ranbaxy brothers is a classic case of how hubris, conceit, hunger for money and over-­confidence can lead to a house of frauds. As quickly as it was built, it can fall ­instantly like a house of cards.

Read Malvinder's messages to the RSSB guru about repaying money

Given recent developments in the financial fraud scandal involving the Singh brothers (Malvinder and Shivinder), Gurinder Singh Dhillon, their relative, who is the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, and some other people, I thought it'd be good to point out my June 2019 post, "Malvinder Singh's message to the RSSB guru is moving."

(See here, here, here, and here for those developments. Malvinder, Shivinder, and the guru's right hand man, Sunil Godhwani, have been arrested. Dhillon, his family, the Singh brothers, Godhwani, and others have been ordered to appear before the High Court of Delhi on November 14.)

Actually I should have said "messages" in the blog post title, because I shared several messages from Malvinder to Dhillon that were attachments to the criminal complaint filed against the RSSB guru by Malvinder. (Scroll to nearly the end of the PDF file to find them.)

I'm re-sharing the previous blog post because some commenters on this blog have said that they doubt the RSSB guru actually owes money to Malvinder Singh and the companies that Malvinder and his brother once controlled. Malvinder's criminal complaint contains ledger entries showing what Dhillon and his family owe, and the messages in the complaint are further evidence that the Dhillons owe a lot a money.

Here's my commentary in that June blog post about the messages. 

At the end of the attachments to the criminal complaint filed by Malvinder Singh against his cousin, Gurinder Singh Dhillon (the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas), there's some messages that are both moving and enlightening -- as they cast light on the complicated financial scandal involving the Singh brothers, the Dhillon family, and others.

I'd looked at these quickly when I wrote a blog post about the criminal complaint. Today I read them more thoroughly. I've made screenshots of several messages from Malvinder to make it easier for other people to read them.

To begin with, in May 2018 Dhillon agreed to settle his debts if Malvinder and Shivinder (Malvinder's brother) would submit an accounting of what is owned to them by the guru and his family.

...Then, below is a letter addressed to the RSSB guru, whom Malvinder ("Malav") refers to with the honorofic, Babaji. This alone is interesting, since Malvinder is both a relative of Dhillon and also an initiate of his. 

You can read how Malvinder addresses Gurinder Singh Dhillon with the utmost respect, even capitalizing You and Your, seemingly in the same way "God" is capitalized by religious believers.

Malvinder is desperate to resolve the financial difficulties that are causing him so much distress. In response to Dhillon's request for the liabilities owed, Malvinder describes what Dhillon and his family need to pay.

(Two other messages I've shared that follow describe the problems involving Dhillon and his family in more detail, as does the criminal complaint itself, of course.)

Presciently, Malvinder recognizes that various investigations into financial wrongdoing have the potential to be very dangerous to the Singh brothers, the Dhillon family, and others involved with shady loans. 

He presents a way forward that, in his view, would resolve the problems. Perhaps not completely, but largely. Here's the message to Dhillon.

...Later, Malvinder turns his attention to the three companies named in a SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) report detailing fraudulent transactions, after apparently failing to get a response from Dhillon to his July 12 message. 

What's significant here is that Malvinder draws a connection between (1) the fraudulent money diverted from RHC (Religare) and Fortis to the three companies named in the SEBI report (Best, Fern, Modland), and (2) who ended up with the fraudulent money -- Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family.

Several commenters on this blog have been trying to make a big deal out of the fact that the first SEBI report didn't mention Dhillon, his family, and close associates as being involved in the fraud.

However, Malvinder's criminal complaint names Dhillon, et.al., as does his messages below, where he makes it clear that the Dhillon family owes money to the three companies, and those companies owe money to Religare and Fortis. Thus this establishes a clear link between the fraud described in the SEBI report and the ultimate beneficiaries of that fraud.

...A second message was sent on November 28. Malvinder is even more desperate now to be paid the money owed him by the guru and his family, which totals $158 million just for funds diverted from the Best Group of companies.

...What's disturbing in all this is how Malvinder's relative, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, who he also considered to be his father figure and spiritual advisor, was so uncaring and unresponsive to Malvinder's entreaties.

Not exactly how one would expect a guru who is considered by devotees to be God in human form should act. In fact, it isn't even anywhere close to how a decent human being should act.

It must have been difficult for Malvinder to decide to file a criminal complaint against Dhillon, given how close they once were and how much trust Malvinder once had in the RSSB guru. But Gurinder Singh Dhillon ignored Malvinder's repeated requests for the guru to pay back the money that was owed to him and the companies he once controlled.

So whatever befalls Dhillon, he deserves it. At the moment the Dhillon family has gotten their assets frozen by the High Court of Delhi, which then will be sold by the Court. Whether they also will face criminal punishment remains to be seen.

Open Thread 25 (free speech for comments)

Here's a new Open Thread.

I appreciate that off-topic comments have been going in a previous Open Thread. As noted before, it's good to have comments in a regular blog post related to its subject, and it's also good to have a place where almost anything goes in regard to sharing ideas, feelings, experiences, and such. That place is an Open Thread.

Leave a comment on this post about anything you want to talk about. Remember that I'm moderating comments, so it could take a while for your comment to be published. Almost every comment submitted to an Open Thread will be approved. Personal attacks on someone are an exception. Argue with ideas, not insults.

Though I haven't been doing too well on this, I'll try to remember to always have an Open Thread showing in the Recent Posts section in the right sidebar. If one isn't showing, I've added an Open Threads category in, naturally, the Categories section. You can always find an Open Thread that way.

So if you're a believer in some form of religion, mysticism, or spirituality, this is where you can put your "praise God," "praise Guru," or "praise _______" comments.

RSSB guru ordered to appear before Delhi High Court on Nov. 14

UPDATE: A commenter shared a link to another story by Business Today on this subject that contains more information. There's a Delhi High Court order for all those involved in the financial fraud investigation to appear on November 14.

Daiichi case: Delhi HC orders RSSB chief Dhillon & family, Singh brothers, Ghodhwanis to be present in court on November 14

BusinessToday.In on March 12 reported Singh brothers could only pay the $500 million order against them to compensate Daiichi, provided the money owed to them by RSSB chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family is recovered

BusinessToday.In

Delhi High Court has asked RSSB chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family members, former Religare promoters Shivinder Singh and Malvinder Singh, former Religare chief Sunil Godhwani and his brother Sanjay Godhwani to be present at the court hearing in the Daiichi Sankyo case on November 14. The court has asked all accused to remain present in the court, along with all the documents relating to the dealings. "The garnishees shall also remain present in the Court on the next date of hearing along with all the documents relating to the dealings/transactions with the judgment debtors as well as their related companies on the next date of hearing," says the court order dated October 11.

Daiichi had earlier enforced an arbitration order in Singapore that ordered the brothers to pay Daiichi $500 million towards alleged non-disclosure of crucial information during the sale of Ranbaxy Laboratories to Daiichi in 2008.

Also read: Recover money from RSSB chief Dhillon & family to pay Singh brothers' dues to Daiichi: Delhi HC

Expanding the scope of people from whom the money could be recovered, the court in June had named 56 entities, including Dhillon, his wife Shabnam Dhillon and other family members, and Godhwanis.

BusinessToday.In had reported on March 12 that Singh brothers can only pay the $500 million order against them to compensate Daiichi, provided the money owed to them by RSSB chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family is recovered. In his submission, Malvinder has maintained that he can pay Daiichi provided he recovered the money owed to him.

Also read: SC take note! Singh brothers can pay off $500 million to Daiichi, provided the money is recovered

Besides the Dhillon family, the Delhi HC had also issued 'garnishee orders' -- an order that's issued against a third party to recover money to settle a debt or dues -- against several Dhillon and RSSB associates' companies, including Prius Real Estate, Addon Realty, Payne Realtors SGGD Projects, Luminous Holding.

BusinessToday.In had earlier reported the flow of money from Singh brothers to entities owned and controlled by Gurinder Singh Dhillon, his family and RSSB associates. RoC filings and terms sheets say between 2011 and 2014, Rs 1,107.5 crore from the Rs 9,576 crore sale proceeds of Ranbaxy to Daiichi Sankyo was paid through various RHC group firms. Thereafter, this money was transferred to Prius Real Estate Private Limited controlled by Dhillon family associates and RSSB functionaries through optionally convertible debentures (OCD).

Today The Economic Times of India ran this story concerning the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Gurinder Singh Dhillon.
Download Daiichi Sankyo-Ranbaxy case: HC asks Radha Soami head 54 others to deposit Rs 6 000 crore

It doesn't appear to be good news for Dhillon and his family, who reportedly were the beneficiaries of hundreds of millions of dollars fraudulently siphoned from RHC Holding, a public company.

Delhi HC orders RSSB chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon to appear in court on Nov 14

The RSSB chief is among 55 individuals and entities ordered by the court to pay over Rs 6000 crore owed to RHC Holding Pvt Ltd in connection with the settlement of a dispute to Daiichi Sankyo’s acquisition of Ranbaxy laboratories.

Teena Thacker

The Delhi High Court has ordered Gurinder Singh Dhillon, chief of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) to be personally present in the court on November 14.

The order comes after he and his family members told the court that they do not owe any money to RHC Holding Pvt Ltd, promoted by Malvinder and Shivinder Singh.

The Dhillon had filed an application following the court’s direction to deposit the amount owed to RHC holdings pvt Ltd in connection with the execution of Rs 3500 crore arbitration award won by Japanese form Daiichi Sankyoagainst former Ranbaxy promoters. In his plea Dhillon had told the court that RHC Holding has made false claims.

Thereafter, in an order dated October 11 the court ordered Dhillon along with his wife Shabnam, sons Gurkirat and Gurpreet and daughter in law Nayan Tara to “remain present in the court with relevant documents related to their dealings and transactions with the garnishees and their related companies,” the order said. ET has accessed a copy of the order.

The Dhillon are among 55 individuals and entities ordered by the court to pay over Rs 6000 crore owed to RHC holding in connection with the settlement of a dispute to Daiichi Sankyo’s acquisition of Ranbaxy laboratoriesNSE 5.63 %.

Justice JR Midha in his earlier order had also stated that these entities cannot “dispose of, alienate, encumber directly or indirectly, part with the possession of any assets, except in the ordinary course of business like payment of salary and statutory dues, till the next date of hearing.”

According to an affidavit filed by RHC Holding in April, entities including those controlled by the RSSB chief, his family and close associates, owed over Rs 6,000 crore to the company and other group entities of the Singh brothers. Malvinder Singh, one of the directors of RHC, had maintained that payment of an arbitration award related to Daiichi Sankyo’s acquisition of Ranbaxy could be made only if the money owed was recovered.

Gurinder Singh Dhillon

Delhi police following money trail that could lead to RSSB guru and his family

Here's some fresh news on the Singh brothrers/RSSB guru (Gurinder Singh Dhillon) financial scandal saga.

A commenter on this blog just left a link to an Economic Times story that shows authorities are having success in tracing where the money ultimately went that was siphoned out of companies once controlled by the Singh brothers, and into companies that were partly or mostly controlled by the Dhillon family and their close associates.

Here's what the story says. I've boldfaced the mention of the RSSB guru.

A district court in Delhi extended the police custody of businessmen Malvinder and Shivinder Singh by two days in connection with fund diversion and misappropriation of funds pegged at about Rs 2,400 crore. The court will hear the case on October 17.

Claiming that they have found the “money trail” to some extent and wanted the custody be extended, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi police filed a remand application in which it claimed that “during the police investigation the accused persons disclosed that the amount to the tune of Rs 1000 crore approximately was transferred from entities linked to corporate loan book”. ET has seen the copy. These entities are Modland Wears Pvt Ltd, Devara Developers Pvt Ltd, Fern Healthcare Pvt Ltd, Best Healthcare Pvt Ltd, Adept Lifespaces Pvt Ltd, Rosestar Marketing Pvt Ltd,” the application said.

“The amount has been transferred to various persons which has been transferred from the complainant company to these shell entities and finally the said amount was misappropriated/siphoned,” it further goes on to say.

The EOW said that they wanted the custody to be extended to “identify the persons to whom the amount was disbursed and to ascertain the purpose of giving the said amount”.

While the police custody has been extended for Singhs along with former REL chairman and managing director Sunil Godhwani, ex-Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL). Former CEO Kavi Arora and former REL CFO Anil Saxena were sent to judicial custody.

All five were arrested last week following a complaint by Religare Finvest Ltd. They were produced in a court in Saket on Tuesday afternoon.

The EOW has alleged that the accused “wilfully defaulted in repayments and caused wrongful loss to RFL to the tune of Rs 2,397 crore,” in its application filed in the court on 11 October. It also said that the funds were diverted to promoter related companies.

The police investigative agency sought extension of judicial remand for “sustained interrogation,” to find the trail of “cheated money” to ascertain the purpose of cheating, to confront the directors of shell entities and to ascertain the role of co-conspirators.

Malvinder Singh’s lawyer Manu Sharma said he was happy to note that the investigative agencies are heading in a right direction. He has been saying that the investigative agency should recover the money from the head Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Gurinder Singh Dhillon.

According to the FIR filed by the EOW, internal inquiries showed that the poor condition of the complainant company was to a large extent on account of wilful defaults on significant unsecured loans, defined for internal purposes as CLBs by borrower entities either related, controlled or associated with the promoters.

Malvinder's criminal complaint casts light on RSSB guru's alleged role in financial fraud

Given that the High Court of Delhi has ordered Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family to pay back money they owe to Religare, a company once controlled by the Singh brothers and Sunil Godhwani, I thought it would be interesting to go back and look at Malvinder Singh's criminal complaint against the Dhillon family, Godhwani, and others.

That complaint was filed in February of this year, I believe. I wrote about it in a February 20, 2019 blog post, "Legal filing against Gurinder Singh Dhillon is fascinating reading." 

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that anyone who doubts that Dhillon and his family received lots of money from shell companies should scroll to the attachments in Malvinder's criminal complaint. There you'll find a detailed accounting of the funds that went into the pockets of the Dhillon family, along with a signed message from the RSSB guru acknowledging his liabilities and the need to "work to settle the accounts." 

Recent stories in the Indian financial press have said that authorities are investigating possible co-conspirators in the massive financial fraud that has led to the arrest of Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, plus Godhwani and a few others.

Naturally it is impossible to say how that investigation will play out.

But here's how I summarized parts of Malvinder Singh's criminal complaint, since it presents a persuasive argument for the culpability of the Gurinder Singh Dhillon in this financial mess. Read my original blog post for more details. 

Someone sent me a copy of the legal brief filed by Malvinder Singh against his cousin, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas; the guru's wife and children; Malvinder's brother, Shivinder; and several cronies of the guru.

...This complaint has formed the basis for a number of stories in the Indian financial press (see here, here, and here). Now, obviously Gurinder Singh and the other people named in the complaint will have an opportunity to respond to the allegations of illegality. 

But the complaint is very much in line with comments left on this blog from 2010 to 2014 by someone in the know. I shared their 27,000 words in "Devastating criticism of Gurinder Singh Dhillon by a RSSB insider." So this is independent confirmation that the general tenor of what Malvinder Singh alleges in his complaint is true.

I strongly recommend reading the criminal complaint in full. Though the stories in the Indian financial press accurately reflect what is in the complaint, there's additional details in the complaint. And it is well-written in what I assume is the style of Indian legal documents of this sort.

...Sunil Godhwani was the guru's right-hand-man/close advisor for many years. Control of companies owned by the Singh brothers passed to Godhwani at the request of Gurinder Singh. This is the first mention of how Malvinder Singh viewed the guru as a spiritual guide, father figure, and mentor. Malvinder and Shivinder are initiates of Gurinder Singh, I'm pretty sure.

...This excerpt talks about how Godhwani wasn't running the companies on his own, but was in "consultation and conspiracy" with Gurinder Singh to cheat Malvinder.

...To understand this excerpt, we need to remember that the RSSB guru is considered by devotees to be God in human form. Hence, his advice and guidance can be trusted as divine. Malvinder says that he trusted Gurinder as his spiritual guru and believed "he can do no wrong." Almost certainly he can, though, as we'll see in the next sections of the complaint. 

...Shivinder is alleged to have spent a lot of time at the Dera (RSSB headquarters) working on a conspiracy to take money from RHC (a holding company formed by the Singh brothers with many subsidiaries) and shift the money to the guru, his relatives, and others -- leaving RHC with no assets but only liabilities, which obviously hurts Malvinder and other RHC shareholders.

...Via an audit, Malvinder learns that RHC is debt-ridden and wasn't a "going concern." This leads him to investigate what happened. He learns that his brother, Shivinder, hasn't engaged in any sort of normal business practices, which the complaint argues shows the fraudulent intent of acquiring various companies held by RHC.

...The complaint says that Malvinder learned that the RHC companies had loaned 1006 crores, which seems to be about $142 million US dollars, to Gurinder Singh, the guru's family, and other close associates of the guru.

...After listing the exact amounts of RHC loans that total to the $142 million, the complaint alleges that Godhwani, in collusion with Shivinder and Gurinder Singh, "intrinsically intertwined" the finances of the Dhillon family with the finances of the companies -- which, as noted above, had shareholders whose interests weren't served by taking money from RHC to give to the Dhillon's.

...Here's one of the motives (maybe the main motive) of Shivinder going to such lengths to funnel money into the pockets of Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family. The guru had promised to make Shivinder the head of RSSB, taking Gurinder Singh's place, in exchange for forgiveness of the debts owed to RHC by the guru.

...This part of the complaint says that Shivinder, in connivance with Gurinder Singh, his family, and close associates fraudulently acquired six companies in order to hide from RHC shareholders what was going on, and to shield the people who had gotten loans from RHC from having to repay the money.

...Shivinder agrees to sign a "family settlement" that absolves Gurinder Singh Dhillon of wrongdoing or criminality. But Malvinder has objections to this, as detailed in some emails included in an appendix to the complaint. Again, Malvinder alleges that his brother, Shivinder, agreed to this "in his greed to become the next spiritual head of the Radha Soami Satsang Beas."

...When Malvinder refuses to sign the settlement agreement, things get really nasty. Malvinder says that Gurinder Singh threatened that he would be eliminated by people from the Radha Soami Satsang, and warned him that the guru is a powerful person who has friends in high places.

...Malvinder states that he has recordings of the death threats made by Gurinder Singh and can make them available as and when desired. He also has received "veiled innuendos and threats" from other members of RSSB. Not surprisingly, this has put Malvinder "under immense mental pressure and trauma."

He's fearful for his life, saying that if anything happens to him this will be at the "behest of Sh. Gurinder Singh Dhillon and the other accused and those working under his influence."

...Here the complaint says that Shivinder Singh has refused to try to recover the loan money as part of "his evil design to effectively  try and write off the debt of the Dhillon Family."

...This isn't a victimless crime, because Fortis Healthcare will be affected, diluting the value of shares owned by investors, defrauding the public, and adversely impacting public confidence.

Commenting is good. Insulting is not.

I've added a "Commenting" link in the navigation bar at the top of this blog to remind people of my comment policies. They're pretty loose, but if you're wondering why a comment of yours wasn't approved, do some introspecting after you read the comment policy. 

Each guideline is important, but failure to follow the one about insults probably irritates me the most, because there is nothing more boring than simple-minded personal insults. They belong in middle school, maybe, but not elsewhere. Like I say...

It's boring to insult people in a comment. Don't do it. Stand up for issues, ideas, concepts, and such that you feel need discussing. But don't insult other commenters, or anyone else. Criticize what someone says or does, not the person themselves. 

Try to imagine you're in a person-to-person conversation. It is fine to say, "Hey, I disagree with what you're saying about ______. The way I see it is ______." It wouldn't be fine to say, "Hey, you're an idiot for saying _____. You should keep your mouth shut from now on." 

Malvinder's lawyer calls for arrest of RSSB guru

Following the arrest of Malvinder and Shivinder Singh by Delhi police for questioning about the diversion of funds from companies they once controlled,(see here and here), and the High Court of Delhi giving the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, along with others, 30 days to pay back $842 million to the Religare corporation, there's more fascinating news.

Likely reflecting what his client is telling authorities, Malvinder Singh's attorney had some harsh words for Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the RSSB guru. At one time the Singh brothers treated Dhillon, their relative, as both a father figure and trusted spiritual adviser on matters both financial and religious.

But now, according to a story in the Indian Express, things are very different. I've boldfaced the mentions of the RSSB guru and co-conspirators.

A day after they were arrested for alleged diversion of funds and causing a loss of Rs 2,397 crore to Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL), brothers Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh, former promoters of Religare Enterprises Ltd, were remanded in four-day police custody Friday.

Before they were led away with three others arrested with them, Malvinder’s counsel Manu Sharma told a Delhi court that his client did not have a “single penny” and that investigators were not arresting a “a person to whose doorstep the money leads as he is heading a great religious organisation”.

“This gentleman runs an entity called Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) trust. He’s a very powerful man and has high political relevance,” Sharma told the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat at the Saket courts complex in south Delhi.

At one stage, the Singh brothers were followers of the RSSB.

He said the FIR against Malvinder is an offshoot of a September 27 order of the Delhi High Court which ordered 55 entities and individuals, including RSSB chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon, his family members and various companies owned by them or by RSSB associates, to pay dues of over Rs 3,000 to the Singh brothers.

“\After this (High Court) order was reported two days back, my client was detained on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday and arrested before his wife and daughter, who is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Ludhiana,” Sharma told the court.

Besides Malvinder and Shivinder, the Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police Thursday arrested Sunil Godhwani, former chairman and managing director of Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL), Kavi Arora and Anil Saxena who held “important managerial positions in REL and RFL” for alleged diversion of public money “in clandestine manner for their own benefit.

Noting that “the offence is of very serious nature involving huge amount of siphoning of money”, CMM Sherawat ordered their police custody since it is “necessary to trace the trail of the cheated amount and find out the role of other persons who might have participated in conspiracy, and confrontation with other officials of RFL and REL”. He directed that the accused be produced in court again on October 15.

The court granted four-day police custody though the EOW had sought six days, saying they also needed to ascertain the role of co-conspirators.

Godhwani and Saxena did not oppose the police remand while Shivinder told the court that he himself was a victim of the fraud and would cooperate with the investigation in every possible manner.

Malvinder’s lawyer Sharma told the court that he had given an affidavit in the High Court saying the money was not with him. Maintaining that his client had been cooperating, he said: “I am a defenceless and a penniless man. The agency should arrest the RSSB chief who has not even been touched.”

Meanwhile, the RSSB chief and his family members moved the High Court Friday, saying they do not owe any money to RHC Holdings Pvt Ltd, promoted by Malvinder and Shivinder.

Malvinder Singh arrested by Delhi police. RSSB guru appeals High Court order.

The drama surrounding the financial fraud saga involving the Singh brothers, Sunil Godhwani, and a guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, has taken another turn with the arrest of Malvinder Singh (his brother, Shivinder, and Godhwani were arrested previously).

A LiveMint story describes the arrest.

New Delhi: In late night drama on Thursday, the economic offences wing (EOW) of the Delhi police arrested former co-promoter of Religare Enterprises, Malvinder Mohan Singh, in Ludhiana (Punjab) for allegedly causing wrongful loss worth ₹2,397 crore to Religare Finvest Ltd, a senior Delhi police official said.

“He was nabbed in Punjab, and we are getting him to Delhi," a senior Delhi police official said about Malvinder Singh

An official statement from the Delhi Police will be available on Friday morning.

Malvinder Singh’s arrest comes hours after his younger brother Shivinder Singh, former Religare Enterprises chairman and managing director Sunil Godhwani, as well as two other officials from the companies were also arrested in the same case.

“The alleged persons, having absolute control of Religare Enterprises Ltd and its subsidiaries, put Religare Finvest Ltd in poor financial condition by way of disbursing loans to the companies having no financial standing and controlled by the alleged persons," the Delhi Police had said in the statement earlier on Thursday.

The accused, the Delhi police said, were arrested under section 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant, banker, merchant or agent) and section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.

The financial irregularities were flagged during independent audits by the Reserve Bank of India and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Delhi Police said.

The arrests were made based on a complaint filed by Religare Enterprises arm Religare Finvest in December, when they alleged that the three had misappropriated funds of Religare Finvest to the tune of around ₹740 crore through loans to entities that were related to them or their associates.

Religare Finvest had also named N.K. Ghoshal, a long-time associate of promoters, along with directors of the promoter companies.

What strikes me about this sordid mess is what it reveals about the Singh brothers connection with their cousin, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas.

Following the death of Malvinder and Shivinder's father, Dhillon is reported to have become a father figure to them, acting of both a trusted financial advisor and spiritual guide. Shivinder even had hopes of becoming the next RSSB guru and became a sevadar (volunteer) for the organization.

Well, that didn't work out very well for them.

Stories in the Indian financial press show that Dhillon and his family were the prime beneficiaries of the money that was fraudulently taken from companies controlled by the Singh brothers.

So the big question now is whether Indian authorities will continue their investigation into how the financial manipulations were orchestrated and who benefitted from the illegally gotten funds.

The RSSB guru and his family have been ordered to repay within 30 days up to $842 million that doesn't belong to them.  

It's hard to believe, almost impossible, in fact, that Gurinder Singh Dhillon, his wife, and sons simply looked at hundreds of millions of dollars flowing into their bank accounts and didn't ask, "Gosh, how is this happening?" Almost certainly, they were willing participants in the financial fraud.

After all, Dhillon is supposed to be God in Human Form, a Perfect Living Master, who I've heard is fond of saying "my way or the highway." Yet in this case defenders of the guru are claiming that he was a passive recipient of vast amounts of money and had nothing to do with how it was obtained.

Yeah, right. I don't believe this. I suspect that Indian authorities don't believe it either. 

UPDATE: The RSSB guru is claiming that he and his family don't owe any money to Religare. Well, as noted above, good luck with that argument. It'll be interesting to see if the High Court of Delhi buys it. The attorneys for RHC Holding, Singh brothers, and Daichi likely are already busy doing their best to refute that contention.

Probably Gurinder Singh Dhlllon had to take this step because he isn't able to repay what he and his family owe.

But the downside is that it puts a spotlight on the ultimate beneficiaries of the fraudulently-obtained money, and that could end up turning out badly for the Dhillons. Of course, it's impossible to predict how this Bollywood'ish drama will play out. Here's the Economic Times story.

NEW DELHI: Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) head Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family members Friday approached the Delhi High Court saying they do not owe any money to RHC Holdings Pvt Ltd, promoted by Malvinder and Shivinder Singh.

The Dhillons filed the application following the court's direction to deposit the amount due to RHC Holdings Pvt Ltd in connection with the execution of Rs 3,500-crore arbitral award won by Japanese pharma major Daiichi Sankyo against former promoters of Ranbaxy LaboratoriesNSE 5.63 %Malvinder and Shivinder Singh.

Dhillons told the court that RHC Holding has made false claims that they owe money to the company.

Justice J R Midha sought response of RHC Holding, Singh brothers and Daiichi on the plea of Dhillons.

The court, in its September order, said the amount which 55 garnishees, including Dhillon family, owe to RHC Holdings should be deposited with the Registrar General of the Delhi High Court within 30 days. A garnishee order is an order against a third party for the recovery of debt or dues.

 

ANOTHER UPDATE: Looks like there could be even worse news for the Dhillon family, or at least for so-far unindicted co-conspirators. I've boldfaced some pertinent passages in this The Tribune story.

Former Fortis promoters Malvinder, Shivinder sent to police custody

New Delhi, October 11

A Delhi court on Friday granted the police four-day custody of former Fortis Healthcare promoters Malvinder Singh, his brother Shivinder and three others, arrested for allegedly misappropriating funds of Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL), causing it losses of Rs 2,397 crore.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat allowed custodial interrogation of the five people who were arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police.

Malvinder (46) was arrested on Friday morning, while Shivinder (44), Sunil Godhwani (58), the former chairman and managing director of Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL), Kavi Arora (48) and Anil Saxena, who occupied important positions in REL and RFL, were arrested on Thursday by the EOW for allegedly diverting the money and investing in other companies.

The police sought the custodial interrogation of the accused saying it was necessary as they were allegedly involved in diversion of public money which needs to be tracked.

It further said that a lot of people are involved in the alleged cheating and misappropriation of the fund.

The police sought their custodial interrogation saying the accused have to be confronted with other officials to ascertain the role of co-conspirators and said that the money trail was to be found in the case which was at an initial stage of probe.

The counsel representing the accused opposed the Delhi police plea and said their custody was not required as the evidence is documentary.

The counsel for Malvinder said in the court that he has joined the probe and answered all the questions for which his custody was not required.

Malvinder told the court that he has given an affidavit before the high court saying the money was not with him.

Malvinder opposed the police plea claiming that he was being made a soft target, however, his brother Shivinder, representing himself, did not oppose the plea.

Shivinder told the court that he was himself a victim and was ready to help and cooperate in the investigation.

RFL is a subsidiary of the REL. Malvinder and Shivinder were earlier the promoters of REL.

The police had said that a look out circular (LOC) had been issued against Malvinder as he was absconding.

He was detained on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday in Ludhiana and was formally arrested on Friday morning after he was brought here by the EOW team, Additional Commissioner of Police (EOW) O P Mishra earlier told reporters.

The EOW had registered an FIR in March after it received a complaint from Manpreet Singh Suri of the RFL against Shivinder, Godhwani and others alleging that loans were taken by them while managing the firm but the money was invested in other companies.

According to the police, the complainant stated that the four had absolute control on REL and its subsidiaries.

“They put RFL in poor financial condition by disbursing loans to companies having no financial standing and being controlled by them. The companies to which loans were disbursed willfully defaulted in repayments and caused a loss to RFL to the tune of Rs 2,397 crore,” Mishra alleged. PTI 

Here's a Bar & Bench story that contains the High Court order. It appears to be an enforcement of a May order against the same 55 garnishee parties, with the difference being that now they have to pay up within 30 days and provide a detailed description of all of their assets and income.

 

 

Singh Brothers and RSSB insider arrested. Bad news for RSSB guru.

Indian authorities are starting to arrest people involved with the financial scandal that has embroiled Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, Sunil Godhwani, and Gurinder Singh Dhillon, plus the Dhillon family, in a tangled web of fraud.

Here's how the Economic Times story starts out.
Download Shivinder Mohan Singh | Ranbaxy ex-promoter Shivinder Singh Sunil Godhwani arrested in fraud case

Shivinder Mohan Singh, the erstwhile promoter of Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) was on Thursday arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EoW) of the Delhi police, along with Sunil Godhwani, former chief of REL, among others following a complaint of misappropriation of funds of Religare Finvest Ltd, the lending arm of REL.

Malvinder Mohan Singh, the elder brother was not in Delhi and could not be arrested. It is learnt that a lookout notice has been issued against him. Both Malvinder and Shivinder were raided by the Enforcement Directorate in August this year. The brothers have been accused by Religare Finvest of fraud and misappropriation of funds to the tune of Rs. 740 crore.

In December, a criminal complaint was filed by RFL with EoW against the Singh brothers, following which a case was filed against the brothers in May this year.

The Singh brothers are relatives of the Radha Soami Satsang Beas guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon. Malvinder has alleged that Dhillon and Godhwani conspired to siphon funds out of companies the Singh brothers controlled at the time along with Godhwani -- who reportedly was the guru's right hand man and managed the finances of RSSB. (The "Dera" is RSSB headquarters in the Punjab.)

Here's a description of his role from a Bloomberg story posted on the RSSB web site:

• Sunil Godhwani: The money man. Said to have been friends with the Dhillon family since childhood and to have grown up in the dera itself, Godhwani was managing the finances of the dera.

Further, the fraudulent funds apparently ended up in the pockets of Dhillon, his family, and close associates. In a separate legal matter, the Dhillon family and others have been ordered to pay back $842 million that, obviously, they aren't entitled to.

What happens next is unclear, but it's interesting to speculate. It's well known that authorities typically work their way up a fraudulent/criminal "food chain" by arresting and interrogating lower level people first, the goal being to get these people to implicate higher-ups.

There's no way to know if that is what is happening in this case. It sure seems possible, though. So in my opinion, Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family should be more worried today than they were yesterday about their legal culpability. 

RSSB guru and his family ordered to repay up to $842 million

Thanks to a comment left on a post today by a blog visitor, I learned that a financial noose is tightening around the necks of Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family, who, along with others, have been ordered to pay 6,000 crore rupees to RHC Holding -- which equals $842 million.

UPDATE: Someone just sent me a photo of the print version of the story. 

Here's how an Economic Times story, "Daiichi Sankyo-Ranbaxy case: HC asks Radha Soami head, 54 others to deposit Rs 6,000 crore," starts out (HC refers to the High Court of Delhi in India).

Download Daiichi Sankyo-Ranbaxy case: HC asks Radha Soami head 54 others to deposit Rs 6 000 crore

NEW DELHI: Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the spiritual head of the Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), his family members and associates are among 55 individuals and entities ordered by a court to pay over Rs 6,000 crore owed to RHC Holding in connection with the settlement of a dispute related to Daiichi Sankyo’s acquisition of Ranbaxy Laboratories.

The Delhi high court ordered Dhillonʼs wife Shabnam, sons Gurkirat and Gurpreet and daughter-in-law Nayan Tara, among others, to pay up the amount due to RHC Holding, the flagship holding company of the Singh brothers who formerly owned Ranbaxy. Money will also be recovered from former Religare Enterprises chief Sunil Godhwani and his brother Sanjay Godhwani. The non-banking financial services conglomerate was formerly promoted by Malvinder and Shivinder Singh.

The amount should be deposited with the courtʼs registrar general within 30 days, according to the order dated September 27. Any party disputing the claim should file an affidavit to place their contention on record, Justice JR Midha said in the order, which ET reviewed. The entities cannot “dispose of, alienate, encumber directly or indirectly, part with the possession of any assets, except in the ordinary course of business like payment of salary and statutory dues, till the next date of hearing.”

Back in March I wrote a blog post based on reporting in the Indian financial press, "RSSB guru now faced with repaying $909 million in allegedly fraudulent loans." Excerpt:

I keep writing about this Indian financial saga, which could provide the plot for a great Bollywood movie, because it shows up so clearly the hypocrisy of many religious leaders.

The guru who leads a sect that teaches the goal of life is to purify the soul and mind so they can rise to higher spiritual regions has devoted himself to amassing worldly riches in a highly dubious manner, using his position as the head of RSSB to make himself rich. 

It'll be interesting to see if Malvinder succeeds in getting the money back from the RSSB guru and others. Hopefully he will. Gurus can't hold themselves above the law, even though their devotees often try to excuse their actions with a variety of unconvincing excuses: "It's God's will...this is a test of our faith...gurus work in mysterious ways...blah, blah, blah."

Well, it looks increasingly likely that Gurinder Singh Dhillon, his family, and close associates are going to have to come up with as much as $842 million by the end of October.

The exact amount to be gotten from these sources is a bit unsure, even though it seems clear that most (or all) of the 55 entities mentioned in the Economic Times story are connected to the RSSB guru in some fashion.

The big remaining question, after this huge amount of money is paid to RHC holding, is whether Dhillon, his family, and close associates got the money by fraudulent means, as has been alleged by Malvinder Singh. 

What we do know at this point is that the RSSB guru and his family have failed to repay money that they obtained through dubious "loans" (more like money siphoning) from the coffers of RHC Holding. So this demolishes the guru's undeserved reputation of being a Perfect Living Master, since his behavior doesn't even rise to the level of an average moral human who pays their bills on time.

Sunil Godhwani, by the way, used to be the guru's right-hand-man and managed financial affairs at the headquarters of Radha Soami Satsang Beas. Here's a description of his role from a Bloomberg story posted on the RSSB web site:

• Sunil Godhwani: The money man. Said to have been friends with the Dhillon family since childhood and to have grown up in the dera itself, Godhwani was managing the finances of the dera.

Godhwani has been charged with cheating and criminal conspiracy. Godhwai became head of Religare Enterprises at the behest of Gurinder Singh Dhillon, after which Godhwani is alleged to have funneled money into the pockets of the guru and his family.  

For my birthday, I've giving myself death

OK, readers of this blog post title should refrain from contacting a suicide prevention hotline.

The form of death I've decided to give myself for my 71st birthday is writing another book comprised mostly of what I've already composed for my Church of the Churchless blog on the subject of death.

After publishing a book, "Break Free of Dogma," that consists of 93 early churchless blog posts (2004-06) on various subjects, I decided to give a theme-based book a try.

Death seemed like a great subject. Not cheery, but inevitable. 

I have no problem admitting to a fear of death. I understand why many people, including my wife, Laurel, say they aren't afraid of death, but rather of suffering in the course of dying.

That makes sense, since I'm afraid of that also. But the idea of not-existing for eternity after I die strikes me as decidedly dreadful also, not that I, or any other living being, has a choice in the matter. So many of my Church of the Churchless posts deal with the fear of non-existence.

I devoted a couple of hours today to seeing how many blog posts I could find that dealt with death. From November 2004 to March 2007, I copied in over 10,000 words of death-related posts. 

So, yay, it looks like I should be able to cobble together an interesting book just from what I've already written about death. And I can always write more on some aspect of death that has escaped my attention previously.

If anyone who comes across this post has written about dealing with the fear of death from a non-religious perspective, I'd be interested in reading whatever you've put together. Again, non-religious. I realize that believing in life after death is how most people cope with their eventual demise, but as an atheist I reject that approach.

My email address is in the right sidebar. Or, click here. Here's a link to a recent post I wrote about death, "Recognizing the reality of death is key to living life."

Our essence is more iike a spider web than a diamond

Take a look at these images. Which do you feel best describes your essence? Is the real you more like a complex spider web with lots of gossamer interconnections, or a simple unitary, unchanging diamond?

Most people have the feeling that they possess, or are, a core consciousness that often is termed the Self or Soul. This is the dominant religious philosophy, whether Western or Eastern (Buddhism and Taoism excepted).

So the goal of a "diamond" perspective is to get in touch with an unchanging essence that remains the same in the midst of an ever-changing world.

That perspective almost certainly is wrong. Modern neuroscience and psychology, along with the aforementioned Buddhist and Taoist teachings, hold that what we are is, to use a Buddhist term, empty of inherent existence.

In this context empty doesn't mean non-existent. Rather, it points to the fact of everything, including us, being part of a web of interconnections, causes and effects, relationships with countless other things.

Almost every guided meditation I listen to on Sam Harris' Waking Up iPhone app contains requests to look in a certain fashion. 

Look for the center of consciousness.
Look at that which is looking.

Finding nothing -- which is my experience, along with that of most meditators who attend to what is really there in one's psyche, rather than what is conceptually thought to be there -- is the point of the exercise.

Things simply appear and disappear in consciousness. There is no place from which we sit and observe what is transpiring within our awareness. The idea that there is, such as a mythical "eye center" or "third eye," is just another appearance in the spider web of consciousness.

I'm an avid reader in the fascinating area of modern neuroscience. The title of a cover story in the September 21, 2019 issue of New Scientist asks a big question, "What is consciousness?" 

Michael Graziano, the author of the article, has written a book called "Rethinking Consciousness: A Scientific Theory of Subjective Experience." Here's some quotes from his New Scientist piece.

Our attention schema theory explains why people think there is a hard problem of consciousness at all. Efficiency requires the quickest and dirtiest model possible, so the attention schema leaves aside all the little details of signals and neurons and synapses.

Instead, the brain describes a simplified version of itself, then reports this as a ghostly, non-physical essence, a magical ability to mentally possess items. 

Introspection -- or cognition accessing internal information -- can never return any other answer. It is like a machine stuck in a logic loop. The attention schema is like a self-reflecting mirror: it is the brain's representation of how the brain represents things, and is a specific example of higher order thought.

In this account, consciousness isn't so much an illusion as a self-caricature.

OK, if that isn't crystal clear, and I'm sure it isn't, let's take a look at a seemingly related conception of consciousness in a book that was the subject of my previous post, "The Feeling of Life Itself," by Christof Koch.

According to integrated information theory (IIT), consciousness is determined by the causal properties of any physical system acting upon itself. That is, consciousness is a fundamental property of any mechanism that has cause-effect power upon itself.

...The theory takes the five phenomenological axioms of experience that I introduced in the first chapter -- any experience exists for itself, is structured, is the specific way it is, is one, and is definite -- and formulates for each one an associated causal postulate, a requirement that any conscious system has to obey.

The theory reveals or unfolds the intrinsic causal powers of any system that obeys all five postulates. These causal powers can be represented as a constellation of points (distinctions) linked by lines (relations).

According to IIT, these causal powers are identical to conscious experience, with every aspect of any possible conscious experience mapping one-to-one onto aspects of this causal structure. Everything is accounted for on either side.

All these causal powers, including their degree of intrinsic existence, can be evaluated in a systematic fashion, that is, algorithmically. Figure 8.1 illustrates this structure by way of a visual metaphor, a byzantine tangled spider web.

Koch ends that chapter with an apt observation: "If you've made it through this chapter, congratulations, as the covered material stretches anyone's mind." For sure.

After I finish his book, I'll try to summarize this spider web'y theory in (hopefully) my own understandable language.

Quantum theory isn't needed to explain consciousness

If I wasn't an atheist I would have called out Thank God! when i read the following passages in Christof Koch's book, "The Feeling of Life Itself: Why Consciousness Is Widespread but Can't Be Computed."

Koch, who is President and Chief Scientist of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, doesn't see any need to invoke mysterious quantum phenomena when attempts to understand consciousness are being undertaken.

As I noted recently, it irritates me when someone -- who almost always isn't a scientist -- tries to inject quantum theory into a discussion of meditation, consciousness, or such. As Koch says below, it is extremely unlikely (though not impossible) that quantum mechanics influences brain functions.

I'm enjoying Koch's latest book and will have more to say about it when I've read more of it. Here's what he had to say on the subject of quantum mechanics and consciousness.

That a conscious observer is required to convert the superposition of states of a quantum system into the single observable outcome has always troubled physicists. If QM [quantum mechanics] is really a fundamental theory of reality, it shouldn't need to invoke conscious brains and measuring devices. Instead these macroscopic objects should emerge naturally from the theory.

Many solutions have been proposed, but none have found acceptance. It is this dilemma at the root of such a successful theory of reality that has prompted Roger Penrose, a brilliant cosmologist, to propose a quantum gravity theory of consciousness that remains popular with the public.

Precious little evidence supports the idea that the brain exploits macroscopic quantum mechanical effects. Of course, the brain has to obey QM, as when photons of light meet retinal molecules inside photoreceptors. Yet the body's wet and warm operating regime is inimical to quantum coherency and  superposition across neurons.

Today's quantum computer prototypes need extreme vacuum and temperatures close to absolute zero to avoid decoherence, when so-called quantum bits disentangle and become regular bits of classical information theory. That's why quantum computers are so difficult to build.

Furthermore, it has never been properly explained why phenomenological aspects of consciousness or its neurobiological substrate require quantum properties.

I see no need to invoke exotic physics to understand consciousness.

It is likely that a knowledge of biochemistry and classical electrodynamics is sufficient to understand how electrical activity across vast coalitions of neocortical neurons constitute any one experience. But as scientist I keep an open mind. Any mechanism not violating physics might be exploited by natural selection.