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.

Comments

[slave_of_GSD]

Mr Brian Hines "Delhi High Court rejects offer of singh brothers to settle with Religare".

My understanding of this story yesterday in punjabi Ajit is that Singh Brothers applied for bail and an offer to settle with Religare but this application was objected by Delhi Police on the basis that they were prosecuting a criminal case and payment would not end their criminal case.In additional to this Police pointed to Court that their investigation was not complete.

Posted by: K.Singh | October 24, 2019 at 01:37 AM

Right to bail is seen as an implicit right devolving under Article 21 of Constitution and so generally the norm is bail not jail.

Judicial custody isn't always necessary for carrying on an investigation. Good grounds for rejecting a bail plea has to be listed by the prosecution and that an investigation is being conducted isn't any ground. It needs to be stuff like - the alleged can flee the country, destroy evidence', influence witnesses, past criminal record etc etc.

So the understanding is flawed.

The courts are well aware that paying back the siphoned monies isn't going to absolve the Singh bros of the crime(if prosecution establishes their guilt). And if guilty, they are gonna be fried any which ways - settlement or no settlement.

Daichi has simply reminded all, citing the High court ruling, that nothing which weakens their right to recover 3500 crores can be done by Singh bros and offering to settle i.e. pay back Religare falls into this category. And the court has upheld this plea by Daichi

[Vijay]

One initiated
Yup I agree with your points. However I will say that the Guru knows what he is doing. We are to be concerned with the teachings and with the practice and get our answers from within, then there is no question. He is not teaching one thing and doing another as much as it may look like that to everyone here.
The truth will reveal itself.
Hard for people to believe this fact and this is why he is almost screaming it off the rooftops “do your meditation” all the answers are within and time is limited. But we are so concerned asking 10 thousand questions all whilst forgetting the main thing. There is a saying which I always remind myself of “the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” 😆
And the main thing is the inner practice the teachings and the purpose of life. Everything else one can throw out the window.

[Vijay]

Jim you have completely misunderstood the comment of One. He is saying that even if his master is seen in these places his faith will not shake.
You are throwing it off by comparing to suicide bombers who tell people to kill or create harm or destruction for their cause.
The Master has always said only good. The vows are good the practice is good the way of living he recommends is good. They say not to even harm a fly. There is a day and night difference between the 2 and by even comparing it in the same post you are delusional and completely lost.

[Spence Tepper]

Hi Vijay and One
Gurinder et al has been ordered by the high Court to pay their delinquent bills. This hasn't been changed.

However, the criminal case against Shivinder, Malvinder, Sunhil and others is active. That is the case that they engaged in fraud. They are not off the hook for their fraud.

But the responsibility to repay what Gurinder et al owes sits on his shoulders as ordered by the high court.

Shivinder et all can claim that as the high court has ordered Gurinder et all to repay their portion, they are protected as long as that is active.

But they are not protected from the fraud case.

Just as Gurinder et al are not protected by any action against from Shivinder et al for Gurinder et al's debts and payments past due to the high court.

The high Court has portioned out responsibility to repay to Gurinder et al, and moved the responsibility for recovery to the high Court and off Shivinder et al's shoulders.

But Shivinder et all are still responsible for the whole fraud.

If you take stolen money from a their you are responsible to repay it. The thief is responsible for the crime.

You have made effort to dismiss the order of the high court. And this is where your loss of objectivity is clear.

[slave_of_GSD]

"Gurinder et al has been ordered by the high Court to pay their delinquent bills. This hasn't been changed."

So what's the amount the High court has ORDERED GSD to repay?

Ordered pay whatever you owe huh? Courts aren't stupid to say this.

[Spence Tepper]

Hi Vijay
I read the article you posted, and it's important, but not for the reason you state.

"Daiichi Sankyo stated that any settlement proposing payment of money by Singh Brothers to Religare FinVest would be against the Court's order directing Singh Brothers to not dispose of, alienate, encumber either directly or indirectly or otherwise part with the possession of any assets as well their interest in any company or trust.

"Agreeing with Daiichi Sankyo, a Single Judge Bench of JR Midha remarked,

"This would be in the teeth of the order passed by the Court.."

https://barandbench.com/daiichi-sankyo-objects-singh-brothers-proposal-settle-misappropriation-funds-case-religare/

What this is saying is that the high court order to Gurinder et al for payment still stands.

Read it again.

No escape.

[Spence Tepper]

Hi Vijay
You wrote
"And the main thing is the inner practice the teachings and the purpose of life. Everything else one can throw out the window."

You and I agree 100% on this. Therefore there is no reason to make much of the fact we view the world differently, from different backgrounds and cultures, so long as we do our own work, whatever form of meditation, mindfulness or worship we find ourselves suited to.

In the West, hard facts gain a very high status, and so we are always interested in what might actually be hard fact.

But meditation and the gifts of Spirit are also fact for the individual, though subjective experience to anyone else. But what is your personal truth naturally you are bound to loyalty.

It's just in the west, loyalty to truth includes objective facts.

Not to say we have that, but it appears that such is the case, though we have conflicting verbal claims, and in time we will know for sure, either way.

[Vijay]

Hi Spence for someone who knows so little about this you sure write a lot. Let me break it down for you. Singh brothers are the debtors to Daichi. Here’s the case
Daichi- Malvinder and shivinder you owe us 3500cr
shivinder- give me some time I will try to put my share up
Malvinder- I can only pay if I can collect from those that owe me
Court- please provide a list
Malvinder-provides a list of 55 entities that owe him and provides to court in May. Then in July provides the amounts they owe him.these become the garneshees
Court( in October)-orders the garneshees either pay what Malvinder claims you owe or file an affidavit to dispute
3 days later the Dhillon family disputes and says they don’t owe the debtors anything and the court tells them to show the paperwork to prove it.
This is where it stands now. The debtors are still the Singh brothers and the garneshees in question are the Dhillons. The debt has NOT moved from the Singh brothers to the Dhillons as you have claimed multiple times with absolute certainty.

[Spence Tepper]

Hi Vijay
I appreciate the summary, but you have missed three important facts.
1. The order to Gurinder et al was the second such order. They were delinquent on the first.
2. Gurinder et al was ordered to be at court on the trial date along with others. This had nothing to do with his plea of innocence.
3. Grinder et all was not ordered to repay Shivinder et all. They were ordered to pay the high court directly instead. Shivinder et al are no longer involved in the reclamation of those money's. But Gurinder et al still owes that money, and not to Shivinder et all anymore, but directly to the high court.

Until Gurinder et al proves otherwise, the high court is holding he and his cohorts directly responsible for their portion of delinquent funds, and no longer Shivinder et al (who are still responsible for the fraud).

[Spence Tepper]

One more point, Vijay
The court and crimes division are still building their case, gathering information. What will be presented when Gurinder et al attends the trial? Will there be evidence of fraud for Shivinder et al? Will the audits be used? And will the loans be thoroughly investigated by then?

Let's say that in Shivinder et al's various companies there is paper over a few years demonstrating unsecured loans were in fact made to companies that Gurinder et al ran and through these, unsecured loans directly to Gurinder et al? Just like the earlier audits showed? And what if the rotating checks implicating those companies in fraud and theft is also used as evidence?

Then the problem is no longer repayment. Then it is the fraud conducted by those companies which listed members of Gurinder's own family as principles.

You see, a payment plan might have kept this out of criminal trial.

Gurinder et al's legal team must now prove that all these documents, even the letters of incorporation listing his wife as principle officer, were all forged. And up until now, after all these years while the fraud and theft continued, he chose not to address it.

It won't wash.

The only case that can be made is if the crimes division finds out internally that this was all Shivinder et al's fraud and forgery and withdraws the order for Gurinder et al to pay. Or through some internal corruption withdraws the order for payment.

But as of today, the order still stands. Apparently no information exhonorating Gurinder hads come to light yet.

You see courts don't ask for direct payment unless they have corroborating evidence that will hold up in court.

In the one case they removed one of those on the list, that individual proved they had already paid their debt. They did not claim the loan was forged, as Gurinder may need to do.

And unless Gurinder et al offers to repay before the trial, or offers similar evidence he has already paid, then Gurinder and his cohorts run the risk of getting dragged into a criminal prosecution for fraud and theft.

We will see.

I can wait. How about you?

If the court, say in one month, still finds Gurinder et al liable for repayment, or that he is not, will you accept that judgment whatever it is?

If there is evidence to support the judgment either way, I will.

[Jim]

This whole battle going on around RSSB reminds me of the one that happened in ECKANKAR . Darwin Gross ran off with several million dollars and the present leader (can't remember his name right now) had to wrestle it back through the courts. It was only one body blow that group sustained though,as David Lane landed a mighty in his book The rise of a religion. That book recaptured the brain cells in me that had been hijacked by Eckankar back in the 70's. Thanks again David! BTW David is a awesome body surfer! Really it all comes down to the old duck phrase which I have hijacked for this, If it looks like B.S. and smells like B.S. it is in fact B.S.. Wake up RSSB people!

[GSD guilty]

It is obvious what GSD is doing.

He only cares about money. Why did he not help malav and Shivinder when they needed the money. He could have saved them from losing billions.

After all they made his sons billionaires but when they needed help he didn’t care. Is that the sign of a master?
He is only concerned about his own family