Church of the Churchless

Excellent comments about RSSB guru's failure to be honest

Here's three comments by "j" on the post I wrote yesterday, RSSB guru wants to keep his tax returns secret. 

They're excellent. Reasonable. Factual. Well-written.

I heartily agree that Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, isn't living up to the ethical standard of even an average person, much less a religious leader who supposedly is God in Human Form.

Enjoy. I've corrected a few typos and added some paragraph breaks to make the comments easier to read.

Not "the appropriate stage" to reveal his tax returns? How many more of Gurinder's followers need to go to prison while he remains mum on using them for shady financial deals? Anyway, I thought Gurinder has retired from business life long ago and, as he told us, was just "living off the money his family gave him."

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What happened to RSSB's much-trumpeted heritage of being the most ethical religion on the planet? For decades RSSB has portrayed itself as the religion known for "honest living."

Almost every RSSB book points out that the RSSB guru isn't like all the other gurus and religious leaders. He doesn't live off his followers. He doesn't receive gifts. He's in all ways a solid, peerlessly honest, straight dealing, law-abiding citizen.

Speaking of honesty, let's all examine our motives for taking initiation. How many of us took RSSB initiation in part because we were impressed by the claims it made for the guru's integrity? I'm not an RSSB initiate myself, but I have to admit that the rhetoric about the guru's impeccable honesty did have a significant effect on my opinion of him and this religion.

RSSB advertised itself as the only ethical religion left on the planet. I don't think that's an exaggeration. Charan's talks and RSSB books had nothing good to say about any other religions or even other sant mat gurus, and everything good to say about the other gurus in his line, and by extension, himself.

And the biggest claim that the RSSB gurus make, aside from being God? That they "live off their own earnings." That may have been true in the days of Sawan and Jagat Singh, but since they departed this world 70 years ago, the odds that the RSSB guru is self-supporting seem thinner than a 2 cent chapati.

Now we come to this financial scandal. I've given Gurinder the benefit of the doubt and have waited a long time for him to do or say something that suggests he's above suspicion of chicanery. But every time Gurinder is called upon to help straighten this matter out...he comes up with a flimsy excuse.

When he's called upon by the Sangat to say something to clarify matters, he is said to make smart remarks. Moreover, Gurinder refuses to go to court because he says his diabetes prevents him from leaving home. Gurinder refuses to let the court see his tax records, even though he stated that the only income he has is money his family gives him.

Gurinder is being sued for borrowing over 1M from a non-satsangi and not paying it back. Three of Gurinder's followers are in prison right now for a scheme that involved moving money through accounts connected to Dhillion family members -- who btw were paid a salary for taking part in money laundering, but are apparently getting off scot-free.

One of those followers is adamant that Gurinder was involved in ordering these movements of funds. OK, let's take all that together: Is it really unreasonable to suggest that Gurinder is less than honest?

Some of us have been saying from the outset that the truth behind this scandal, and Gurinder's guilt or innocence, will be discerned by the courts. I said that and still believe it.

But when I said it, I kind of expected for Gurinder to at least cooperate with the courts. I didn't expect him to embark on a strategy of stonewalling India's legal system with BS excuses, and that's exactly what the present Guru of Beas is doing.

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"So is the concern for his health... unless you've now chosen to ascribe perfect health and 'superpowers' to him." From what I understand from the official RSSB website, Gurinder is still actively participating in giving public satsangs not only in Beas, but in Mumbai, Raipur, Indore, etc.

https://www.rssb.org/satsang_schedules.html

But according to Gurinder's lawyer, the Guru is far too frail to attend court and explain his part in a financial scandal. After all, the lawyer says, diabetics need their special meals. Does a diabetic's need for special meals mean they can't show up for court? That's what Gurinder is claiming through his lawyer.

Is that really true? I know of a diabetic who had his leg cut off and still got around town with riding the bus and a wheelchair. Perhaps he was a perfect master.

This is a financial scandal where we know considerable sums of money went into accounts controlled by the guru's family members and accounts associated with the guru himself. Yet the guru is refusing to step up in the most basic of ways to clear things up.

No, I'm sure not suggesting that Gurinder is Perfect. Far from it. I'm suggesting he's far from perfect. That is, far from being as honest as the average person.

As for Gurinder's personal finances and his tax statements, RSSB says right there on its website that Gurinder is retired and living off the money his family gives him. According to people who attend Gurinder events, Gurinder also says, boasts really, that he is innocent of any financial skullduggery because he only gets money his family gives him.

In other words, Gurinder has chosen to make his financial status public. He's claimed that his financial affairs are an open book. He's declared he's not a businessman and is simply living off the charity given him by his apparently wealthy family.

But now that Gurinder is called to prove that precious contention, he balks before the court with another empty excuse. All while the people he'd "advised" molder in prison. This makes twice that Gurinder has refused to cooperate with India's legal system.

On both occasions, his justifications for non-cooperation are transparently bogus. I think it's indefensible.

Gurinder Singh Dhillon

RSSB guru wants to keep his tax returns secret

Here's the latest development in the financial fraud saga involving the Singh brothers (Malvinder and Shivinder) and their relative, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas.

Today a story in India's The Economic Times says that Dhillon has told the Delhi High Court that he wants to be exempted from producing his personal income tax returns.

Since Malvinder Singh has said that the RSSB guru and his family ended up with most, or all, of the money illegally siphoned from Religare, a public corporation, obviously it is important for investigators to see the Dhillon tax returns.

If Dhillon truly is innocent, as he claims, why doesn't he make his tax returns available to the High Court? His secrecy points to guilt, not innocence.

Or maybe the RSSB guru considers that he is God in Human Form and doesn't have to comply with worldly laws.

Gosh, I wonder where he could have gotten that idea. Oh, yes, that is a fundamental part of the Radha Soami Satsang Beas teachings. So that's how Dhillon would have come to think he is godly.

RSSB chief seeks not to put ITR on record

The chief of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), Gurinder Singh Dhillon, has sought exception from filing income tax returns (ITR), telling the Delhi High Court that it contained 'personal information' and that this was not an 'appropriate stage' to produce such documents.

Teena Thacker

New Delhi: The chief of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), Gurinder Singh Dhillon, has sought exception from filing income tax returns (ITR), telling the Delhi High Court that it contained 'personal information' and that this was not an 'appropriate stage' to produce such documents.

The court had earlier asked Dhillon and his family members to file ITRs, after he denied of having any liability towards RHC Holdings, a company promoted by Malvinder and Shivinder Singh. The Singh brothers, who had previously controlled Religare Enterprises and Ranbaxy LaboratoriesNSE 5.63 %, are facing probes by various agencies for alleged financial irregularities.

They were also ordered to pay Rs 3,500 crore to Daiichi Sankyo under an arbitration award over the sale of Ranbaxy to the Japanese company. In an affidavit filed before the court, Dhillon said being individuals, his family members and he did not “maintain balance sheets” and filing ITR would cause “severe prejudice” to them. Dhillon had earlier admitted of his financial dealings with the Singh brothers by annexing copies of bank statements.

UPDATE: Someone just sent me a photo the print version of the story. It has some content that wasn't in the online story.

Gurinder Singh Dhillon

Every religious person is wrong, almost certainly

One of the strangest things about this Church of the Churchless blog is how many thoroughly "churched" people visit here. I'm glad that they do, because a diversity of opinions in comments is a lot more interesting than a comment monoculture.

But as I've observed before, it's sort of like a bunch of confirmed carnivores frequenting a vegetarian web site, where they leave lots of comments about how wonderful meat-eating is. 

Anyway, I understand that devotees of the religious group that I belonged to for 35 years, Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), don't have many places on the Internet to discuss the RSSB teachings and the RSSB guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, so I'm pleased to offer them this.

It's just that since I've been a happy atheist for so many years, seeing discussions of God, karma, divine regions of reality, the guru's miraculous powers, and such feels decidedly weird.

I find it difficult to believe that the true believers who comment on this blog actually consider that they have discovered the truth about ultimate religious reality that is hidden from the billions of other people in the world who believe otherwise.

After all, elsewhere on the Internet there are countless web sites, blogs, and discussion groups where believers in other faiths, mystical paths, and spiritual philosophies are talking in the same fashion about how fortunate it is that they know the truth about what supposedly lies beyond the physical.

Earlier this month I shared a post about what Ricky Gervais said in his most recent interview with Stephen Colbert. It bears repeating, because Gervais made so much sense.

GERVAIS: … Atheism is only rejecting the claim that there is a god. Atheism isn’t a belief system. So this is atheism in a nutshell. You say there’s a God. I say, “Can you prove that?” You say no. I say, “I don’t believe you then.” So you believe in one God, I assume?

COLBERT: Uhh…. in three persons, but go ahead.

GERVAIS: Okay. But there are about 3,000 to choose from… Basically, you deny one less God than I do. You don’t believe in 2,999 gods. And I don’t believe in just one more.

So what are the chances that any religious believer is correct about what, if anything, exists in the realm of the supernatural? Very, very, very small.

First, something supernatural has to exist, and there's no demonstrable proof of that. Second, a particular religion (or religious person) has to have learned the truth about the supernatural realm that there's no proof of, and there's also no proof of that. 

But you wouldn't know this by listening to religious believers of all persuasions discussing the finer points of their chosen faith as if it was absolutely, positively, undeniably true. 

And that's just freaking strange. Of course, I've been there and done that, so I understand the appeal of considering that somehow, against all odds, the secrets of the universe have been revealed to a very special person, ME!

The fact that billions of other people around the world believe the same thing rarely enters the mind of religious believers. However, it sure enters my mind, which has been opened up now that I'm an atheist who doesn't feel special at all.

Malvinder Singh accuses RSSB guru of conspiring in financial fraud

Here's a more interesting story from the Indian Financial Press, as compared to the rather blah story I shared yesterday about the financial fraud saga involving the Singh brothers and their relative, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas.

Below is a The Economic Times piece that echoes a point I made yesterday.

Investigators and courts in India appear to be doing their best to avoid taking a close look at the role Dhillon and his family may have played in conspiring to benefit from the money that was fraudulently siphoned from Religare, a company once controlled by Sunil Godhwani, the guru's personal financial advisor.

I could be wrong -- an ever-present possibility -- but it looks to me that if the RSSB guru pays back the money that he got (he's claiming he owes nothing; Malvinder Singh disagrees), then he won't face further investigation and possible charges.

This would be disappointing, both legally and morally. However, the justice system sometimes works in mysterious ways, and likely the Indian justice system is more mysterious than many systems.

I've boldfaced passages that refer to Dhillon.

NEW DELHI: Former Fortis HealthcareNSE 1.26 % promoter Malvinder Singh, arrested in a case related to alleged misappropriation of funds at Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL), told a Delhi court Tuesday he has paid back the money to the entities concerned. The submission was made before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur during hearing of arguments on the bail plea moved by Singh in the case lodged by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police.

The court has put up the matter for further hearing on February 6.

Advocate Manu Sharma, appearing for Singh, further said that the probe agency “cherry picked” him because of his affiliation with the family of spiritual head of the Radha Soami Satsang Gurinder Singh Dhillon, who allegedly conspired with other co-accused in the case in carrying out financial fraud.

He added Singh, who is in judicial custody, claimed that he has paid back the alleged laundered money to 14 entities through which he had received it.

“The probe agency is not investigating the Dhillon family. Singh has paid the money back to 14 entities. The probe agency need to investigate why the money has not been paid back to Religare yet,” the counsel said.

“Also, the promoter does not have any direct shareholding with any of these entities. If these entities do not return the money to RFL, it is not his fault,” he said.

More of the same in Singh brothers/RSSB guru financial fraud case

There's not much noteworthy in yesterday's Business Today story about the latest development in the (seemingly) never-ending saga of the Singh brothers (Malvinder and Shivinder), their guru relative (Gurinder Singh Dhillon), and a supporting cast that includes the guru's personal financial advisor, Sunil Godhwani. 

The Supreme Court of India is once again telling the Singh brothers that they need to come up with the money to pay a $500 million settlement award to Daiichi Sankyo. And once again, Malvinder Singh is telling the court that he doesn't have the money, after which, once again, the court is saying that all those who owe money to a company once controlled by the Singh brothers need to repay the money.

Which may include Dhillon and his family, according to a previous order by the court. Or, it may not, since Dhillon has denied owing any money. Anyway, here's the copied Business Today story, which for some reason has yellow highlighting where links are included in the original online story. 

I've boldfaced two passages that I found interesting. The Supreme Court appears to be doing its best to not punish those involved in the purported financial fraud involving large amounts of money siphoned from the RHC Group once controlled by the Singh brothers. But if that money isn't repaid, perhaps punishment follows.

Hearing a case filed by Japanese firm Daiichi Sankyo, the Supreme Court on Monday asked former Fortis promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Singh to submit a plan to refund Rs 1,175 crore each by February 24.

Malvinder, through his lawyer senior advocate Dushyant Dave, told court he need more time to pay the amount. To which, the court asked him to issue notices to all those who owe money to RHC group.

The bench, headed by Justice Deepak Gupta, also granted two sessions of four hours each for Malvinder and Shivinder Singh to visit their lawyer's office and do the meetings. The Singh brothers are lodged in Tihar jail under judicial custody.

The bench also said they don't want to punish people if there is a scope for recovery and that every opportunity should be provided for recovery.

In the last hearing, the apex Court had held Malvinder and Shivinder Singh guilty of contempt of court for violating its order to not divert their stakes in Fortis Healthcare.

In March 2019, the Japanese firm had filed a contempt plea against the Singh brothers for disposing of their assets in violation of the court order. Daiichi Sankyo had alleged that the execution of the arbitrary award of Rs 3,500 crore was in jeopardy as the promoters disposed their controlling stakes in Fortis Group.

Daiichi Sankyo is locked in a legal battle to enforce a Rs 3,500 crore arbitration award against Singh Brothers, accusing them of concealing information after they sold Ranbaxy in 2008.

The apex court also asked Daiichi and Fortis Healthcare to reply to Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) plea on allowing Malaysia's IHH Healthcare Bhd open offer to take over the hospital chain. The court will hear the case on March 16.

Last month, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had filed special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court to allow IHH Healthcare to proceed with an open offer for Fortis Healthcare, arguing that the Malaysian operator had completed the transaction before a court's decision freezing deal in December 2018.

The court's December 2018 decision came after Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo argued that certain transaction between Fortis Healthcare and IHH Healthcare violated the court's directions. It also alleged that the change in control of the hospital chain had been orchestrated by Singh brothers.

The Singh brothers sold Ranbaxy to 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.

By Chitranjan Kumar

Investigation into Singh brothers and RSSB guru financial fraud saga continues

The Economic Times has a new story about the investigation into financial fraud involving the Singh brothers (Malvinder and Shivinder), Sunil Godhwani, Gurinder Singh Dhillon (guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas), and others.

I've boldfaced some passages for emphasis. Basically the story shows that authorities in India are still engaged in finding out in whose hands the illegal money transfers ended up, and where the money is now. So the financial fraud saga continues...

 

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is in the process of approaching foreign jurisdictions, to get details of more people and entities that may have involved in laundering money linked to the alleged Religare fraud.

In its charge sheet that accused former Religare promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Singh of money laundering, the agency said it is in the “process of issuing letters rogatory (LRs) to foreign jurisdictions”.

The agency also told a local court that of the total Rs 2,036.69 crore of estimated proceeds of crime, investigation over Rs 300 crores has been completed. “Investigation in respect of identification of remaining proceeds of crime and accused that are involved in money laundering is in progress,” it said in the charge sheet, which ET has seen.

The matter came up for resumed hearing on Wednesday when copies of the charge sheet were supplied to the accused.

On account of the ongoing legal battle between Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, a copy of the charge sheet could not be supplied to RHC Holding, a company privately owned by the brothers which is also an accused in the charge sheet. This is because there was no legal representative to appear for RHC Holding.

Special public prosecutor for the ED, Nitesh Rana, told the court that the brothers, along with co-accused Sunil Godhwani and others, are “involved in process of acquisition, layering, possession, concealment, use and projection of proceeds of crime generated out of criminal activities”.

Singh brothers and Godhwani had denied any wrongdoing.

Elaborating on the alleged role of the two brothers, the charge sheet said, “Malvinder and Shivinder Mohan Singh incorporated and used multiple conduit companies for the purpose of siphoning off public funds from Religare Finvest Limited (RFL) by way of sanctioning and disbursal of loans under corporate loan book (CLB)”.

It said the conduit companies were associated with the Singh brothers. This is “clearly established on the basis that the directors of the said companies have accepted that they were relatives or associates of the promoters (Singh brothers). And that properties owned by the conduit companies were being utilised for the benefit of the promoters as also the fact that some of these companies were purchased by the promoters in 2017-18,” the charge sheet said.

It alleged that the funds “siphoned off” by the brothers and Godhwani through “sanctioning, evergreening, layering of CLB loans were ultimately utilised for repaying existing liabilities” of the company of Singh brothers “or the acquisition of properties for the benefit of Malvinder and Shivinder Mohan Singh”.

The agency said it may file a supplementary charge sheet if its investigation in India as well as abroad ascertains involvement of more individuals involved in laundering and parking of proceeds of crime.

Underlining the role of RHC Holding, the agency said the company acquired Rs 150 crore of proceeds of crime and “utilised the said amount in repayment of its existing liability towards RFL by projecting it as untainted”. It added: “RHC group entities have not only been used as conduit companies but in some cases are the ultimate beneficiary of the proceeds of crime.”

Elaborating on the alleged modus operandi, the agency said proceeds of crime “through a complex maze of interconnected transactions” have been layered and “integrated in the main stream economy for evergreening of old loans”. The proceeds were also used for other purposes and for the acquisition of property, it claimed.

ET was the first to report on January 22 that the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police, in its separate charge sheet, had alleged that the Singh brothers had “diverted public money from group entity Religare Finvest to shell companies and used it to square off their personal liabilities”.

Executives at Religare Finvest, the group’s lending arm, had approved unsecured loans worth hundreds of crores to the shell companies within two hours of getting the proposals, even when these companies themselves had not sought the loans, the EOW said. The Singh brothers had joined the board of Religare Finvest in 2016 with the intention of diverting money to these 19 shell companies, the EOW alleged.

Fact gap in the Singh brothers and RSSB guru financial fraud saga

A few days ago I wrote about the latest turn of events in the fascinating drama of two once-billionaire brothers (Malvinder and Shivinder Singh), their guru relative (Gurinder Singh Dhillon), and the guru's right hand man (Sunil Godhwani). 

In that post, "Delhi Police financial fraud charges point to RSSB guru's involvement," I noted that there is a fact gap between the Singh brothers and Godhwani being charged with money laundering, and the apparent funneling of much, most, or all of that money into the pockets of Dhillon, his family and close associates.

So important questions remain to be answered.

Such as: (1) Are investigators in India going to reveal who ended up with the money diverted into loans to shell companies, who orchestrated this financial fraud, and what the purpose of the fraud was?

(2) Assuming Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family were the ultimate beneficiaries of much or all of this money, will Indian investigators have the political backing to delve into the Dhillon family's involvement in the illegal money transfers and hold them to account if they were active participants in the fraud?

Another way of looking at this admittedly confusing, complex case is to recognize that there are criminal and civil components to it. The Delhi Police charges address the current status of the criminal component.

And the High Court of Delhi has been addressing the civil component in the course of trying to figure out how the Singh brothers are going to be able to pay a $500 million settlement they owe to Daiichi, a Japanese company that bought their Ranbaxy pharmceutical firm.

In July 2019 I wrote about the Dhillon family's role in this part of the case in "Delhi High Court requires recovery of money from RSSB guru." I shared a Business Today story in that post. Here's an excerpt from that story.

RSSB chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon, wife Shabnam Dhillon, sons Gurkirat and Gurpreet and daughter-in-law Nayan Tara Dhillon are among the 56 entities from whom Delhi HC has ordered recovery of monies Singh brothers-Malvinder & Shivinder-owe to Daiichi. Money will also be recovered from former Religare chief Sunil Godhwani and brother Sanjay Godhwani, according to the Delhi HC order.

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 the arbitration order provided he can recover the money owed to him.

So we're left with the above-mentioned fact gap.

Malvinder, Shivinder, and Godhwani have been charged with money laundering. But Malvinder says that the laundered money, basically fraudulent loans, ended up with Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family.

Since the adage "follow the money" usually holds true in criminal financial conspiracies, loose ends will remain in this case until there's a definitive answer to who got the laundered money, why the laundering took place, and who organized the fraud.

There's a variety of ways to tie together what's currently known, or strongly suspected, in this case.

One of the best summaries was put together by Spence Tepper, a frequent commenter on this blog. Tepper appears to have modified his views to some extent, but I still consider what he wrote in July 2019 to be an excellent overview of the case, even though almost certainly it isn't a completely accurate description.

I shared Tepper's comment in a post called "Great overview of RSSB guru's financial fraud involvement." Here's the comment again. As noted in the post, I added some links and made a few corrections.

Hi Osho. You wrote, "I don’t think it’s a matter of 'guilty or not guilty' but more a matter of recovery of the money."

Logically that makes little sense nor does it reflect the High Court of Delhi order. The court determined responsibility, and therfore guilt, and on that basis moved guilt away from Malvinder and onto Gurinder and company.

The Singh brothers held the legal responsibility to pay the Daiichi FDA penalty against Ranbaxy. But the High Court transferred that to Gurinder and company in June.

Malvinder claimed that he and Shivinder had loaned money to Gurinder, his family and associates, amounting to more than enough to cover the penalty. At first the Supreme Court indicated that they didn't care about the Singh's other business dealings, and held them directly responsible for repayment.

But when Malvinder was unable to pay up he filed a criminal complaint with the EOW (Economic Offences Wing) of the Delhi Police pleading his case that Gurinder, his wife, sons and associates owed hundreds of millions of dollars in loans and interest and hadn't repaid for years. These were the monies he needed to pay the Daiichi penalty.

Malvinder went further to document his efforts, pleading repeatedly in writing with Gurinder to help, but with no response from Gurinder.

Even before Malvinder filed his complaint the SEBI and the Fortis board had conducted separate audits that showed fraudulent loans being siphoned through shell companies.

Business journals had conducted their own audits and found that Gurinder and his family were the recipients of nearly a billion dollars in loans through a variety of shell companies. And some of Gurinder's family were involved in the creation and maintenance of the frauds.

All the participants and recipients of the fraudulent loans are satsangis who pledged vows of loyalty to the Master, in this case Gurinder.

By June various additional detailed and indiependent audits had been conducted by the Serious Crimes Division of the Delhi police, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, and the new board at Religare (who filed their own complaint directly implicating the loan recipients and claiming this was all a big scheme involving several people who had knowingly participated in the construction and execution of several frauds).

Then in June, after much deliberation, the High Court of Delhi rendered a judgment that Gurinder, his family and associates, among others, were directly responsible for repayment of their delinquent loans, in full.

The High Court, essentially, verified what Malvinder claimed, and placed responsibility, and therefore culpability, directly onto Gurinder et al's shoulders. The High Court further froze Gurinder et al's assets as they were delinquent over several years in payment.

Guilt, culpability and responsibility have already been determined and payment ordered. For the funds Gurinder et al took, Malvinder is no longer responsible to repay that portion of the Daiichi penalty. The full responsibility is now directly upon Gurinder and company's shoulders, by judgment and order of the High Court of Delhi.

Gurinder Singh Dhillon

Delhi Police financial fraud charges point to RSSB guru's involvement

Below is a story in today's The Economic Times that appears to confirm previous reporting in the Indian financial press about the involvement of Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), in financial fraud.

I've boldfaced the mentions of Dhillon and RSSB. 

The story restates what already was known. Money from Religare Finvest was diverted into shell companies, many or most of which were controlled by followers of RSSB. These were unsecured loans that reportedly went into the pockets of the Dhillon family. See two previous posts of mine on this subject.

RSSB guru identified as beneficiary of fraudulent funds
RSSB guru had better have a big bank balance

It's difficult to tell what exactly happened here, but the following Bloomberg graphic I've shared previously seems to reflect the basic money flows mentioned in today's The Economic Times story.

The Singh brothers (and Sunil Godhwani) used shell companies to extract money from Fortis and Religare and funnel it into the Singh brothers' private holding company, RHC Holding. Unsecured loans then were made to Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family, sometimes through other shell companies.

It's unclear why the money was never paid back.

There's been reporting that the Dhillon family invested the money they got into real estate deals that went bad. This would explain why the Singh brothers and Godhwani had to keep money circulating back and forth through shell companies to disguise the fact that money had gone out in unsecured loans that wasn't being paid back.

So important questions remain to be answered.

Such as: (1) Are investigators in India going to reveal who ended up with the money diverted into loans to shell companies, who orchestrated this financial fraud, and what the purpose of the fraud was?

(2) Assuming Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family were the ultimate beneficiaries of much or all of this money, will Indian investigators have the political backing to delve into the Dhillon family's involvement in the illegal money transfers and hold them to account if they were active participants in the fraud?

Here's the story in The Economic Times.

NEW DELHI: Religare EnterprisesNSE -2.10 %’ former promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Mohan Singh had diverted public money from group entity Religare Finvest to shell companies and used it to “square off their personal liabilities”, the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has said in its charge sheet against the brothers.

Executives at Religare Finvest, the group’s lending arm, had approved unsecured loans worth hundreds of crores to the shell companies within two hours of getting the proposals, even when these companies themselves had not sought the loans, the EOW said. The Singh brothers had joined the board of Religare Finvest in 2016 with the intention of diverting money to these 19 shell companies, it alleged.

The procedure adopted to peruse documents for approving loans was nothing but a “paper formality”, said the charge sheet filed last week in a local court, in a funds-misappropriation case filed by Religare Finvest. ET has seen the charge sheet.

Malvinder and Shivinder Singh had denied any wrongdoing on their part.

A “prominent feature” of the entire process was that these “shell/dummy companies” never made any request for loans, the charge sheet said.

It noted certain instances where the loan approvals were given almost immediately. On September 1, 2016, a loan of Rs 162 crore to Modland Wears Pvt Ltd was proposed at 3:14 pm and was approved at 4:36 pm — within 82 minutes. On the same day, another loan of Rs 165 crore to Artifice Property Pvt Ltd was approved in 103 minutes, it said.

The charge sheet alleged that after the Reserve Bank of India in 2014 redflagged abject lack of rigour deployed by Religare Finvest (RFL) in its corporate loan book, as opposed to strict scrutiny in SME loans, it resorted to “Google check”, as well Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction, Registrar of Companies, Cibil and KYC checks. “But no assessment of repayment capacity was done,” it said.

The agency said the only “precaution” it took was that the credit notes used to read “the corporate is known to the promoters of Religare and based on their comfort, we are proposing the deal”. The loans were cleared on "verbal instructions" of the promoters, it added.

Filing the charge sheets against the Singh brothers, former Religare chairman Sunil Godhwani and two others, the EOW said “despite being a listed company, no corporate governance norms were adhered with respect to the disbursal of loans”.

The EOW has questioned directors of the 19 shell/dummy companies named by it. Five of the directors told EOW that they were “namesake” directors and that they all were “followers of Radha Soami Satsang Beas and old acquaintance of late Parvinder Singh, father of Singh brothers”, the charge sheet said.

The “dummy” directors further claimed that they “signed the documents which were sent to their house through a messenger/employee of promoters at the year end and received salaries from the companies”, the EOW said. They also said none of them were signatories of the bank accounts of the companies.

According to the charge sheet, these directors claimed that all the 19 entities “were controlled and owned/operated by Malvinder and Shivinder Singh through their employees of RHC Holding Pvt Ltd (owned by the brothers) and its subsidiaries”, and that the companies were “not separate entities and were operating from the office of RHC Holding…”

“Malvinder and Shivinder used shell/ dummy entities along with the management of REL (Religare Enterprises) and RFL to divert the money from REL to their holding company, by adopting circuitous transaction to conceal the fake transactions and to make them appear genuine,” the EOW said.

During his questioning, Malvinder Singh told EOW that "Sunil Godhwani and his team at Religare managed and ran the affairs of RHC and its subsidiaries, decisions of money movement between REL, RFL, Babaji (Radha Soami Satsang chief Gurinder Singh) entities and RHC group entities".

Fastening entire responsibility on Godhwani and his team for "mismanagement" of RFL, Malvinder Singh told the EOW that "the management changes at REL in July 2016 were done at the direction and instructions of Babaji”.

Malvinder Singh has further alleged that "Religare and its subsidiaries owe money to RHC Holdings and not the other way around. Fern Healthcare, Modland (which are described as shell companies by the EOW) owe money to RHC Holdings and its subsidiaries and were fraudulently made part of the RHC Group without any diligence, valuation or any board approval. This was done by Shivinder Singh to shield Babaji and his family members to personally owe over Rs 1,000 crore to these entities," he has alleged.

Shivinder Singh, on the other hand, has denied the allegations stating that he took retirement from active life and went to Radha Soami Satsang Beas in 2016. He said he was completely unaware of the operations at REL and RFL.

Money laundering case leaves questions about Dhillon family involvement

It's difficult to know what to make of a development in the financial fraud saga involving the Singh brothers, Sunil Godhwani, and Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas.

Godhwani was the guru's right-hand man and personal financial advisor.

An India Today story (see below) says that India's Enforcement Directorate has charged Shivinder and Malvinder Singh, plus Godhwani, with money laundering. But details are lacking as to how and why this occurred, and who the ultimate beneficiary was of the laundered funds.

Also, the story says that the amount of money in question is only Rs 150 crore, which I believe is about $20 million. Yet the total amount Religare Finvest Ltd. reportedly lost via fraudulently diverted funds was 2,397 crore, or over $300 million. So this seems to be an initial step by the Enforcement Directorate, not a final one. 

The company involved here, Star Artworks Pvt Ltd, was one of 21 entities mentioned in a March 2019 Business Today story that I cited in a blog post, "RSSB guru had better have a big bank balance."

I titled the post the way I did because it's been reported that the Dhillon family was the recipient of hundreds of millions of dollars from companies once controlled by the Singh brothers and Godhwani, money that now is being required to be paid back by Indian courts.

A graphic I included in the blog post indicated that the Dhillon family got huge amounts of money via loans from RHC Holding, a holding company of Malvinder and Shivinder Singh. The address of Star Artworks Pvt Ltd. is the same as RHC Holding Pvt Ltd, which points to the tangled web of shell companies and financial transactions that authorities in India are trying to unravel.

Here's the January 10 India Today story.

The Enforcement Directorate Friday filed a charge sheet against former Fortis Healthcare promoters Shivinder Singh and his brother Malvinder before a Delhi court in a case related to alleged misappropriation of funds at Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL).

The final report, filed before Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Yadav, also named former CMD of Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL) Sunil Godhwani (58) as an accused.

In the charge sheet, filed by ED's Special Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana, the probe agency has accused all three of money laundering, punishable under sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The court took cognisance of the charge sheet and issued production warrant against them for January 20. All the three accused are currently in judicial custody.

The ED also named RHC Holdings Pvt Ltd as an accused in its charge sheet.

It said the accused had acquired proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 150 crore through Star Artworks Pvt Ltd, derived out of criminal activities and utilised the amount in repayment of its existing liability towards RFL by projecting it as untainted.

"Therefore, accused persons were involved in acquisition and utilization of proceeds of crime generated out of criminal activities and its projection as untainted property, thereby have committed the offence of money laundering as defined under sections of PMLA," said the charge sheet, filed through advocate A R Aditya.

The ED had alleged that both the brothers, along with others, transferred an amount of about Rs 1,000 crore to various persons from entities linked to the corporate loan book and finally, the money was siphoned off.

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

"They put RFL in a poor financial condition by disbursing loans to companies with no financial standing and controlled by them. The companies to which the loans were disbursed willfully defaulted in repayments and caused a loss to RFL to the tune of Rs 2,397 crore," the police had alleged.

RFL said in a press release that since the time the offence took place, the company has undergone a complete revamp of its Board of Directors.

"All efforts continue to be made to rebuild the business, mobilise fresh capital and correct the transgression and legacy issues of the past. The management and internal controls at the Group and all subsidiaries' level have also been revamped, bringing in much needed assurance to employees about a stable and action-oriented management," it said.

On being a Technicolor person in a black and white world

Recently someone sent me a message saying that it had been quite a while since I'd written about Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), the spiritual organization based in India that I was an active member of for 35 years.

This person wanted another RSSB post.

Well, though usually I write about what's on my mind (I have three blogs that represent different parts of my mind), and RSSB rarely makes an appearance in my psyche unless there's some news about the RSSB guru being reported in the Indian financial press, responsive blogger that I am, here's a RSSB-related post.

The theme -- Technicolor people in a black and white world -- popped into my head for a couple of reasons.

One is that when I've talked to journalists in India who want to learn about my history with RSSB and how I view the current guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, I try to convey to them the "magical thinking" that permeates ardent RSSB devotees and their gatherings, especially when the guru is present. 

Here's how I tried to describe that feeling in a 2005 post, "Bursting belief bubbles."

I used to believe in belief. It felt good to believe that my religious beliefs were better than other peoples’. I recall standing in line at a movie theatre, feeling exactly like someone standing in line at a movie theatre, when I remembered to do my guru-given mantra.

Instantly I thought to myself, “I’m special. I’m unique. I’ve got a spiritual practice known to only a few.” I stood straighter. I looked at the spiritually impoverished human beings around me with proudly compassionate eyes. “Ah, I have something they don’t. How fortunate I am not to be them.”

Now I pray, “God, whatever or whoever the hell you are, burst my belief bubbles and lead me not into self-righteousness. Blessed be reality.”

My believing now is centered around the notion of pressure. This isn’t something I believe in as much as I feel. I no longer like the feeling of being inflated more highly than the surrounding world. It takes too much effort to keep my ego-pump running all of the time.

Once I read on the Internet how members of my spiritual group, Radha Soami Satsang Beas, considered themselves Technicolor people in a black and white world. That’s a telling and accurate image. It is true for virtually all types of religious people, though, not just a few.

That last line still rings true for me, but from my current perspective I'd enlarge it beyond religious people.

Sure, I still think religions encourage their followers to believe that they possess a certain vividness that those who belong to other religions lack. However, so do political parties, sports teams, colleges/universities, corporations, and so many other examples of how we humans collect ourselves into "tribes."

Religiosity really turns up distinctions, though, since true believers have so much at stake. Notably, life after death, heaven and hell, all that sort of stuff. 

I'd try to explain to the Indian journalists how devotees of the RSSB guru create an atmosphere of blind faith that makes it very difficult for ordinary reality to break through their thoroughly indoctrinated minds. I speak from experience, since I used to be one of those devotees.

Every little thing that happens in a gathering where the guru is present can take on an importance that seems ridiculous to those who don't share the RSSB belief system. OMG! The guru looked me in the eyes! OMG! Did you see how he smiled at that lady's question! Etc. Etc.

The thing is, though, that sort of We're so special mentality isn't founded in any sort of objective reality. My wife, who wasn't a RSSB initiate, attended a meeting in Palm Springs where she got to sit in a front row just a short distance from the guru. After the meeting was over, I asked her what she thought of Gurinder Singh Dhillon.

He just seemed like a regular person, she said. Which is true. For most people. But to those who are RSSB devotees, the guru is a hyper-Technicolor person in a black and white world. Otherwise, he's just an ordinary person, as I noted in "Did I see God in first class?"

I may have seen God in first class. The first class section of an Alaska Airlines flight from San Francisco to Palm Springs, to be exact. Or, maybe I didn’t.

In the early ‘90s I was traveling from Portland to attend a “bhandara," or spiritual gathering, of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) devotees in Palm Springs. After changing planes in San Francisco I found myself in a right side aisle seat in the coach row directly behind first class, idly watching other passengers board.

A middle-aged Indian gentleman caught my eye. Bearded, he was wearing a white turban and blue jeans. His first class seat was across the aisle and one row up from mine. Before sitting down he glanced around the rear of the plane and our eyes briefly met. Then he took his seat and I returned to perusing a magazine. Nothing special seemed to have happened.

But it had, to quite a few other people sitting near me. For they were Bay Area RSSB members who also were heading to Palm Springs for the bhandara where the satguru (true guru) was to speak. And that Indian gentleman sitting a few feet away from me was the satguru—Master Gurinder Singh.

I began to hear whispers. “That’s him.” “The master is sitting in first class.” “I don’t believe it.” I hadn’t recognized Gurinder Singh, even though I’d seen him before at a bhandara in Vancouver, B.C. Fervent RSSB devotees consider the satguru to be God in human form, much as Jesus is regarded by devout Christians.

The difference being, Jesus is dead and Gurinder Singh was sitting alive and well in an Alaska Airlines first class seat. Imagine that a Christian gets on a plane and sees Jesus seated a few rows ahead of him and you’ll have a pretty good idea of the atmosphere on the flight to Palm Springs—among the RSSB disciples, at least.

I got mildly caught up in the excitement. However, even back then, when I was much more involved—psychologically and otherwise—with RSSB than I am now, I didn’t consider that seeing the satguru was a big deal. And until I made the connection between “Indian man wearing a turban” and “Master Gurinder Singh,” seeing him wasn’t even a small deal.

For I didn’t feel a hint of anything special until the disciples around me started up the “It’s him!” whispering campaign. Wouldn’t you think that if a person truly is God in human form, such would be obvious? Not just to those who already believe in the person’s divinity, but to everyone—believer and unbeliever alike. Jesus, of course, suffered the same lack of recognition. If his purported godliness had been transparently apparent, impossible to deny, by the time he died Jesus would have had a lot more than a handful of followers.

Psychedelic researchers speak of the importance of set and setting in determining the nature of a LSD (or similar drug) experience. “Set” includes the personality of the individual; “setting” includes cultural views about what is real. If someone with a devotional frame of mind joins a group like RSSB that affirms the divinity of a guru, then this person may very well see God sitting in first class. I, on the other hand, just saw an Indian man.

Yes, I've changed my mind about spirituality. That's a good thing.

Today a commenter on one of my blog posts said something astoundingly obvious -- that what I write about now is different from what I wrote about five or ten years ago.

Well, duh...

I'm constantly changing, as are we all. I learn, grow, evolve, change my mind, look upon things differently. 

Since I've published a book that consists of Church of the Churchless posts from the early years of this blog, 2004 to 2006, I'm well aware of how my approach to spirituality has changed since then.

If you read Break Free of Dogma, and naturally everybody should, you'll see that I've added a short introduction to each post that talks about how I look now at what I wrote back then.

That's because my own journey of breaking free of religious dogma was a gradual affair.

I can liken it to dismantling a Belief House that was built up over my 35 years of being an active member of a India-based religious organization, Radha Soami Satsang Beas.

It took me quite a while to figure out what parts of that Belief House still appealed to me, and what parts needed to be demolished because they didn't fit with my current understanding of reality.

Earlier this year I wrote "Changing your mind is a superpower. Use it." Here's excerpts.

I have a superpower. But unlike those with superpowers who inhabit the pages of comic books and the screens of movie theaters, my astounding ability is available to everyone.

It's called changing your mind. 

I'm sure you've used it  -- many times. After all, we change our minds about countless things during the course of our lives. For example, I've changed my mind about my...

Politics (Used to be conservative, now I'm a liberal).
Cars (I've gone from a 57' VW bug to a 2017 VW GTI, with many other makes in between). 
Marriage (Got divorced, then remarried).
Profession (Earned a master's in social work, then went into health planning/research).
Eating (Loved meat until I became a vegetarian in 1970).
Residence (Grew up in the country, then lived in cities, now back in the country again).
Religion (Was Catholic for a while as a child, then a believer in an Eastern religion, and now an atheist).

So how is changing your mind a superpower? After all, everybody does this, all the time. True, but since we're so used to changing our minds, it's easy to overlook how marvelous this ability is.

First, to change your mind you need to have one.

Rocks don't have minds. Nor do stars. Living beings, though, have various sorts of minds. We humans have a powerful one. Other primates, ditto, though to a lesser degree. Plants have some sort of cognizance, but probably not a mind. Computers are very adept at certain tasks, yet so far lack what we would call a "mind."

Thus people are able to learn, adapt, modify our thinking, feeling, intuition, and such.

Because very little of human behavior is controlled by instinct, we have the capacity to transmit knowledge between people and across generations. We can read Plato and understand a great mind that lived thousands of years ago, thereby altering our own.

One of the best things about being able to change our mind is how good it feels, and how freeing it is. 

...I'm not saying that change is always welcome, or even tolerable.

That isn't what I mean by changing your mind being a superpower. Sure, it is possible to reduce anxiety, fear, suffering, and such by altering one's thoughts and feelings, but I'm not aware of anybody who can remain completely unmoved by severe pain, disappointment, or loss. 

What is possible, though, is altering our psyche to embrace a new reality, even though it may be unwelcome. That's a superpower in and of itself -- the ability to say "This is...," no matter what those three dots stand for.

Here's some examples of what I mean.

On this blog I've been writing quite a bit about the legal, financial, and ethical troubles involving the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), Gurinder Singh Dhillon. I was a member of RSSB for 35 years, so I like to use this organization as an example of how religions can be wrong, and do wrong, since I'm so familiar with it. 

(If I'd remained a Catholic for 35 years, then became an atheist, likely I'd be using Catholicism as an example of bad religion.)

Fairly frequently commenters on my blog posts about the Dhillon family's alleged criminality will say something like, "Brian, when it turns out that the guru did nothing wrong, you're going to be unable to accept this." 

That really isn't true. 

Because I'm adept at changing my mind, if the Indian legal system ends up exonerating Gurinder Singh Dhillon, I'll accept that reality with very little trouble. In the same fashion, back in November 2016 it took a few days for me to fully accept that Donald Trump had been elected president of the United States.

But it didn't take long for my mind to adjust to a new reality.

Now I'm hoping Trump will be a one-term president. If that doesn't happen, and he is re-elected, I'll be disappointed. However, I won't deny that this happened. (I do worry, though, that Trump won't be able to accept the reality of a 2020 defeat.)

I'll end by noting that even though I'm used to many varieties of religious craziness after 15 years of regularly writing here on the Church of the Churchless, it still surprises me when a commenter expresses extreme surprise at how I could have changed my mind about the validity of the RSSB teachings after being a member of the organization for such a long time.

Often I'll ask them how many things they have changed their mind about during their lifetime. Have you stuck with the same job, same car, same residence, same friends, same political views? Almost certainly not.

There's something about religion that encourages a rigidity of mind that isn't nearly as evident in other areas of life. Members of some religions, like Mormonism or Scientology, will shun people who leave the religion. Yet if someone changes their mind in a way that leads them to join the religion, that's not only fine, it's marvelous. 

For many fundamentalists, mind-changing is a one-way street. It's great if you convert to their religion, yet horrible if you deconvert.

Strange? Yes.

But since just about every religion believes that it, and it alone, is privy to the eternal ultimate truth of the cosmos, this encourages true believers to denigrate anyone who embraces that religion, then chooses to leave it. I guess changing one's mind makes those fundamentalists fearful that their chosen faith really isn't true.

Which, almost certainly, it isn't.

I feel good about having changed my mind to realize this. It's much more pleasurable to accept reality as it is, or at least as it appears, than to cling to a rigid way of thinking that no longer makes sense to me.

Indian Express story describes paradox of the RSSB guru

Today a commenter shared a link to a story by The Indian Express that profiles an Indian religious organization, Radha Soami Satsang Beas, and the guru who leads RSSB, Gurinder Singh Dhillon. (See below.)

The story doesn't break new ground, but it is interesting nonetheless.

What struck me is the contradiction between a quote from volunteers who guard the gates of the RSSB headquarters as they tried to explain why bags, mobile phones, and cameras have to be deposited before entering the headquarters, “you leave the material world outside as you journey to your inner self,” and the fact that Dhillon and his family are reported to have received hundreds of millions of dollars from various sources during the guru's stint as RSSB guru.

By all accounts, Dhillon is heavily involved in the material world, as is his family.

So it's a paradox that RSSB wants visitors to lay aside material possessions before entering the Dera headquarters, even though Gurinder Singh Dhillon is deeply involved in financial machinations that include accusations of fraud committed by Dhillon, his family, and close associates.

Here's the story.

Somewhere between Jalandhar and Amritsar on the Grand Trunk Road, a long, winding path breaks off and stops at an imposing gate, one of half-a-dozen entrances to the headquarters of Dera Baba Jaimal Singh, known more commonly as Radha Soami Satsang Beas, a sprawling commune on the banks of the Beas river.

Much like its 65-year-old head Gurinder Singh Dhillon, “Babaji” or “Master” to 20 million followers across 90 countries, the dera is fiercely private. Devotees guarding the gates tell you to deposit bags, mobiles, and cameras before venturing in. The rationale, the volunteers often say, is that “you leave the material world outside as you journey to your inner self”.

But, for some time now, the outside world has been threatening to intrude into this closed universe, with Babaji, the presiding deity of the town, and his family thrust into the ugly legal battle between Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh, former promoters of Ranbaxy. All the dramatis personae in the case are related to the dera — former dera head Charan Singh is the maternal grandfather of the Singh brothers, while Dhillon, whom he eventually chose as his heir, is Charan Singh’s sister’s son.

It all began with Japanese drug maker Daiichi Sankyo,which had bought the Singh brothers’ 34.82% stake in Ranbaxy in 2008 for $2.4 billion, filing a case in the Delhi High Court in 2018. It alleged that the Singhs had siphoned off over Rs 2,000 crore from their companies through loans to Shimal Healthcare and Prius Real Estate. Dhillon’s wife Shabnam was earlier listed as a director with Prius. But Prius told the judge that the firm was neither owned by the Singhs, nor was it a downstream company of theirs.

Nearly four months later, elder Singh brother Malvinder wrote to the Economic Offences Wing, accusing the dera spiritual head of working in “collusion and connivance” with Shivinder to cause “wrongful loss” to him and the shareholders of RHC Holding Pvt Ltd, a firm he once jointly owned with his younger brother.

Malvinder also alleged that the dera chief was “threatening” him to sign a settlement, freeing the Dhillons of any financial liability. His affidavit in the Supreme Court this year also claims that over Rs 6,000 crore in loans and advances are to be recovered from “various” individuals and companies, including Prius and the dera chief himself.

Dhillon had taken over as the fifth chief of the Beas dera in 1990, after the death of Charan Singh, a lawyer who had headed the dera since 1951. It’s said that Dhillon was home from Spain, where he worked, for the birth of his second son when Charan Singh passed away and he learnt of his anointment as dera chief.

The elderly gatekeepers on volunteer duty at the dera’s newest three-storey outpost still remember the day Dhillon became dera chief. “Babaji was a young man, all of 36, with a trimmed black beard,” recounts Mahender Singh, who owns a cloth shop in Kaithal and joined the dera in 1984.

A R Rajwade, a retired mathematics professor who lives next door to the Dhillon family mansion in Sector 8, Chandigarh, recounts seeing Dhillon as a young man on his bike. “His father Gurmukh Singh, an affluent landlord from Moga, built this house.”

Dhillon’s mother Mohinder Kaur continues to live in the house after his father passed away in the Nineties. Dhillon’s wife Shabnam, 58, who used to divide her time between the dera and the homes of her sons Gurpreet and Gurkeerat Singh, in Singapore and London, respectively, passed away on November 27 following complications after an abdominal surgery in London. She was cremated at the dera.

Dhillon’s friends, who call him “Moga”, also recall his love for bike drives, and Beatles and Paul Anka. “He studied at Sanawar while I was at Bishop Cotton School in Shimla. We became friends when he joined B.Com at Panjab University,’’ says retired Punjab and Haryana High Court Justice S S Saron.

Under Dhillon’s 29-year tenure, the dera has grown in strength and now has over 5,167 satsang centres across the country and over 500 abroad. The dera headquarters at Beas in Amritsar district is a self-contained ‘city’, with an air strip, a CBSE-affiliated school, apartments, an industrial area, a shopping mall, and a network of underpasses for the smooth flow of traffic.

The dera is run by the Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) Trust, a non-profit society headed by a secretary with the dera chief as its patron.

On any given day, 15,000-20,000 come for daily satsang at the dera, with the number rising to several lakhs when the dera chief is addressing it. This summer, the dera hosted five lakh people for a satsang with Dhillon. Besides 15 sheds that can house 8,000 to 12,000 people each, there are dorms, serais or guest houses and apartments for visitors. The biggest of the satsang halls is spread over 80 acres and can accommodate five lakh people. The parking area within the campus can hold 50,000 vehicles.

The dera also boasts one of the world’s largest single rooftop solar facilities. Inside the township is an industrial area where the sewadars make everything, from paver blocks and tiles to furniture and grilles. “There is nothing we get from outside,” says J S Sethi, a retired chief engineer and secretary of the Trust since 2005.

Like with deras elsewhere in the state, the Radha Saomi sect depends heavily on volunteers or jathas to keep the giant dera machinery running. The volunteers are spread across the dera — men and women, who come in as per a pre-determined schedule every day.

The Beas railway station has been taken over this Tuesday evening by dera volunteers who have come to receive a jatha from Hoshiarpur. A batch of volunteers sweeps the station while waiting.

Soon, the jatha arrives and its members head to the two buses in the parking area. “We come here from Hoshiarpur on the 19th of every month. This month, we have been assigned the dera’s sanitation department,’’ says Satnam Singh, a farmer.

With the rapid expansion of the dera have come attendant controversies, the case of alleged fund diversion involving the Singh brothers only the latest.

In 2016, when the Akali-BJP government was in power in the state, former Patiala AAP MP Dharamvir Gandhi took a round of five adjoining villages and claimed that he had come across marginal framers who had been allegedly forced to sell their land to the dera at throwaway rates.

“I got to know that the dera administration is acquiring land through deceit and in connivance of local revenue officials,” says Gandhi, who raised the issue in Parliament.

Though a probe was initiated, nothing came of it. Dismissing Gandhi’s allegations, Sethi says the dera pays compensation at the rate of Rs 2.5 lakh a marla against the market rate in these parts of Rs 40,000 a marla.

Dhillon himself has rarely commented on any controversy, adding to his reluctant godman image.

“He hates being photographed,” says a former follower, who claims to have left the dera because he found it “too austere”.

This month though, Dhillon finally broke his silence on the Ranbaxy allegations, denying RHC’s claims of “huge receivables” from him and his family. Instead, he accused the Singh brothers of owing him over Rs 70 crore that he had loaned to them in 2011.

Mention the case to Sethi of the RSSB Trust and he bristles. “The RSSB has not taken a single paisa from the Singh brothers, you can check our records. Neither the dera nor Babaji like giving clarifications. We believe that ultimately the truth will come out.’’

Why the RSSB guru has broken an initiate's heart

Here's a comment on a recent blog post from Alexander Black that I found to be moving. People put a lot of faith in the morality of gurus and other spiritual leaders. When a leader acts badly, it causes pain among those who trusted them. (I corrected a few typos in the comment.)

As an initiate of Gurinder Singh it breaks my heart how he has lost the moral high ground by getting so deeply involved with the Singh brothers’ illegal and criminal financial dealings.

As Satsangis we seek to find the spiritual truth by practicing meditation every day. Isn’t it equally important to seek the truth of our guru’s character and moral conducts? If the guru is not aligned with the truth how can he be true?

A spiritual guru should be the epitome of truth and the unshakable example how to conduct ourselves in life and on the spiritual path.

Before their initiation seekers must spend a year in probation. They test themselves to make sure that they can follow the dietary requirements as well as the high moral standards that the teachings prescribe. This is meant to be serious business and a lifetime commitment.

Baba Ji is not only the RSSB master but he is also a disciple of his master, Charan Singh. As a disciple he made the same commitment to stay true to the teachings as we did.

There is sufficient proof of Baba Ji's shady financial dealings for those who bother to investigate. The Indian public records speak for themselves.

Why presume that Baba Ji was given the 61,83,013 shares of Religare Enterprises as a gift by the Singh brothers. Don't the teachings of RSSB recommend not to accept favours or gifts? According to the teachings favours and gifts create further karmic debts that bind us to this creation and make us spiritually bankrupt.

In Baba Ji’s and his family’s case we are talking about millions of dollars worth of “gifts” or perhaps "loans" - we don't know which, because there was only a verbal agreement between the parties involved. The high moral standards of the RSSB teachings clearly do not apply to Baba Ji, the “true” guru.

At a question and answer session a woman sitting in a wheel chair came to the microphone. She was hoping to get some sympathy from master regarding her condition. She explained to Baba Ji how hard life was for her in a wheel chair and if it wasn't for her friends who bought her ticket to India, she would not be here.

Baba Ji told her that in India people with total paralysis paint with their mouth to make a living and he suggested to the questioner that once she returned home she should get a job and repay her friends for the ticket to India.

So a ticket to India must be repaid, says Baba Ji, but USD1.25 million borrowed by him from filmmaker Sheetal Talwar must be forgotten.

We soon lose faith and respect for those leaders who do not walk the talk. By keeping our guru on the pedestal no matter what, we give up our power of discrimination.

Gurinder Singh Dhillon

Great comment about RSSB truth-telling

Here's a comment by "j" on a recent blog post about Gurinder Singh Dhillon's involvement in a financial fraud investigation that I heartily agree with. 

Truth needs to be spoken. Journalists, in India and elsewhere, do a good job of revealing truth, by and large. Yes, sometimes they make mistakes, as do we all.

But the stories in the Indian financial press about the RSSB guru's alleged role in financial fraud have been almost entirely accurate, and I've been pleased to share them on this blog. I'll continue to do so. 

Sure, I know that some devotees of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, the religious organization headed up by Dhillon, dislike news that puts the guru in a bad light. The truth shines equally in all directions, though. We shouldn't ignore a truth just because it makes us feel uncomfortable.

In that ignoring way lies dogma, blind belief, and intolerance. Let's be open to truth wherever it may lead. This is "j's" comment, which starts with a quote from another commenter.

"Brother with respect one simple question to all of you. Why all of you are passing your judgements without having a strong evidence or proof , if u have so then why u are wasting ur time here, if have go to the concerned authorities and if not then dont shout and keep ur mouth shut and watch all that happening like a respected spectator. This i request to both who are in favour of dera and to those who are not.Thnx"

Another appeal from the RSSB sangat (my brothers?) to cease and desist from making any online comments about RSSB.

How many people outside RSSB know that 20 or so years ago, this organization's current guru banned any discussion of RSSB on the web? The ban has never been lifted, and the prejudice against any criticism of RSSB has been deeply ingrained in the sangat's culture.

I'm guessing that the same people who are "horrified" at critical comments about RSSB have no problem reading other news sites about events in India and across the world. I'm also guessing they're not writing to these media sites and imploring their brothers there to keep mum and just observe events dispassionately.

Let's be frank. No one here is accusing the RSSB gurus of anything that isn't based on evidence. I don't see any of the wild and lurid accusations against Gurinder here that you tend to find on some Sikh sites.

What we're commenting on is public record: 2 separate parties have accused Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon of taking huge sums of money and refusing to pay it back. I believe the diversion of the Beas river is also a matter of public record.

If you believe as your Guru does that commenting on those matters of public record is indecent and unseemly, that's your right. But you apparently forget that not all of us here are followers of your guru, and we don't agree with you or him that silence is the best policy.

RSSB guru is being shielded by Indian agencies, says Malvinder's attorney

This accusation has been made before by attorneys for Malvinder Singh, and it was made again last Tuesday, November 26. Here's a LiveMint story about the latest turn of events in the ongoing saga of how a guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, appears to be deeply involved in financial fraud.

I'll comment on this development following the story.

NEW DELHI : Delhi High court on Tuesday heard arguments on Enforcement Directorate’s plea for custodial interrogation of former promoter of Fortis Healthcare Malvinder Singh and former Managing Director of Religare Enterprises Sunil Godhwani in a money-laundering case related to alleged misappropriation of funds of Religare Finvest Limited (RFL).

Advocate Ramesh Gupta appearing for the respondents said the agency is not honest with their investigation.

“They have searched and seized the documents. I have joined the investigation whenever they asked of me. They are not touching the baba with whom 2000 crore is already there. They just want my confession. They want to know where the money is parked. I have nothing to do with those companies." He argued.

“They have arrested me only. They did not arrest the other accused. They want to shield Gurinder Singh Dhillon." He further added.

On the other hand, it was argued by standing counsel Amit Mahajan that there are 22 companies where 2300 crore has been transferred and there is an enormous material which needs to be confronted with the accused.

“I am trying to unearth the crime and trace the proceeds." He said.

The court will now hear further arguments on Wednesday.

The ED had arrested Singh and Godhwani on 14 November, following which their custody with the ED was extended twice. On 23 November, a Saket court rejected the ED's plea for extension of custody and remanded the two to judicial custody till 7 December.

ED had moved the Delhi high court against the trial court’s order.

Singh and Godhwani are accused of laundering money, punishable under sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

In December, Religare Enterprises and its subsidiary filed a complaint with the corporate affairs ministry alleging misappropriation of funds worth ₹2,230 crore of the company and its units.

The complaint also alleged that illegal issuances and redemption of preference shares led to undue gains of approximately ₹290 crore to promoter groups.

OK, it's good that the counsel for the Enforcement Directorate, which I've been told is sort of a cross between the FBI and CIA agencies in the United States, is trying to "unearth the crime and trace the proceeds." 

What's puzzling is why it is taking so long.

After all, follow the money is a given in financial fraud crimes. It's extremely difficult to believe that Malvinder Singh and Sunil Godhwani broke laws and engaged in a complicated scheme of round-trip loans going to shell companies without the cooperation, if not the connivance, of those who ultimately ended up with the money and controlled the shell companies at one time.

This isn't akin to someone robbing a bank and then giving the money away to a relative without that person knowing where the money came from. It's akin to someone robbing a bank with the assistance of someone who worked at the bank, with that employee than ending up with the money.

Malvinder and his attorney are asking a good question: why aren't the authorities focusing more on the people who were the ultimate beneficiaries of the money that was siphoned from Fortis and Religare?

This appears to be Gurinder Singh Dhillon, his family, and close associates.

Numerous stories in the Indian financial press have traced the flow of money into their pockets. And the High Court of Delhi has ordered the Dhillon family to repay money owed to Malvinder and companies once controlled by the Singh brothers so a $500 million settlement can be paid to Daiichi Sankyo.

Maybe the wheels of Indian justice are turning slowly, but in the right direction.

However, there's reason for concern that because the Dhillon family has friends in high places, and the millions of followers of the RSSB guru include some fanatical people who would do anything for the guru, possibly including committing violence in his name, there's been pressure on the Enforcement Directorate to go easy on Gurinder Singh Dhillon. 

Hopefully that isn't happening. Or if it is happening, it won't succeed.

This is a high profile case that has gotten worldwide attention. It would make India look bad if a guru was allowed to make off with hundreds of millions of dollars without legal consequences. This would send a bad message to companies thinking of investing in India. And it would leave the boards of Fortis, Religare, and Daiichi Sankyo justifiably enraged.

I'll end by citing a June 2019 post, "RSSB guru identified as beneficiary of fraudulent funds," where I quoted from a Business Today story that described filmmaker Sheetal Talwar's accusations that closely mirrored those just made by Malvinder's attorney. Here's some excerpts.

NRI film producer Sheetal Vinod Talwar has submitted to Sebi that Radha Soami Satsang chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family allegedly benefited the most from Religare's Rs 2,300 crore fund diversion. Sebi's forensic audit via probe agency MSA Probe Consulting had identified diversion worth Rs 2,315.09 crore.

...Talwar has told Sebi that even though its Religare investigation via forensic audit firm MSA concluded fund diversion and large scale irregularities and illegalities, the probe did not lift the corporate veil to disclose the ultimate beneficiaries of the diversion.

Advocates & Solicitors Kartikeya & Associates-representing Talwar-have submitted to Sebi on 29 May, 2019 that, "...the persons who have benefitted the most and/or on whose instance the said illegalities and irregularities were and/or have been committed have yet not been identified. Please note that the persons and/or the shadow promoters of REL, RFL and their other group companies is one Gurinder Singh Dhillon (GSD/Babaji) and his family".

...Talwar's complaint to Sebi has also levelled a grave charge of a serious conflict of interest among Religare's then board  members. "...the fact that the companies shared common directors to the GSD family as well as were all run by GSD followers eg.

Just a quick review would point to the fact that during the diversion of funds, Vitoba, Platinum and Devera entities to which fund were diverted would reveal that Yuvraj Narain Gorwaney alias Mithu is on the board of these companies-not only is Yuvraj...the secretary of RSSB, he also sits on the board of Logos Holding along with GSD and Shabnam Dhillon. Many such associations exist between the entities named and GSD family."

Shabnam Dhillon, wife of RSSB guru, has died

I just received this message from someone. Babaji refers to Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas. It's a sad day for the Dhillon family and the millions of RSSB devotees. I'm no longer one of them, but I share in the sadness of Shabnam Dhillon's death. 

UPDATE: Below is a message from Radha Soami Satsang Beas about Shabnam Dhillon's death. And there's a hindustan times story about her passing.

Second update: There's a Business Today story about Shabnam Dhillon's death.

Shabnam Dhillon, wife of Radha Soami Satsang Beas head Gurinder Singh Dhillion, has passed away in London. She was 57 years old.

According to a statement before Delhi High Court, Shabnam went to London on November 12 for treatment of gastric troubles. She and other members of the Dhillon family had been summoned to appear before the court in person in relation to the Daiichi Sankyo case.

As per the filing, Shabnam had undergone abdominal surgery in United Kingdom on November 20. She later developed some complications post surgery. She breathed her last at an England hospital at 3:00 am IST.

Shabnam is survived by her husband Gurinder Singh Dhillon and two sons, Gurpreet Singh Dhillon and Gurkirat Singh Dhillon. Both of them run businesses in Singapore and England, respectively.

Reports suggest that Gurinder Singh Dhillon will carry on with his three-day programme from Friday to Sunday in Delhi. He will also visit Dubai for a two-day event scheduled for December 2 and 3. Shabnam's mortal remains will reportedly be brought back to Radha Soami Dera at Beas after December 3 for the last rites.

RSSB guru and his family ordered to submit financial information

Thanks to commenters on this blog who shared links to these stories, here's additional reporting in the Indian financial press about the financial fraud saga involving the Singh brothers and their cousin, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB).

Neither story appears to be good news for Dhillon and his family.

They've been ordered to submit income tax returns, bank statements, and balance sheets related to financial transactions that, according to the High Court of Delhi, concern money owed to Malvinder Singh and public companies once controlled by him.

This seems to show that authorities view it as likely that the Dhillon family does owe money that needs to be repaid, perhaps on the order of hundreds of millions of dollars. The RSSB guru has claimed that he doesn't owe anything. That's possible, but unlikely.

The other story speaks of emails "connected with proceeds of crime" that are being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate. Since Malvinder Singh has accused the RSSB guru and his close associate, Sunil Godhwani, of criminal fraud in siphoning off money into shell companies controlled by the Dhillons, tracking who ended up with the money obviously is key to that criminal complaint.

Defenders of the guru claim that Malvinder Singh is the person who orchestrated the massive financial fraud. This makes little sense, though. 

Why would Malvinder set up a complex maze of financial transactions through many shell companies if his goal was to steal money from the companies he once controlled? And why would Malvinder want the Dhillon family to be directors of the shell companies?

Further, if Malvinder committed financial fraud, why would he make a criminal complaint last February against Dhillon, his family, and Godhwani? The complaint would draw attention to Malvinder by legal authorities, which seemingly isn't what someone engaged in financial fraud would want.

Here's the Business Today story.

Delhi high court Saturday ordered the RSSB chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family members to submit their income proofs as part of Daiichi Sankyo case proceedings. The court asked the family to furnish their income tax returns, bank statements and balance sheets before the court within four weeks

"The garnishees who are disputing the liability of judgment debtors shall file the Income Tax Returns, bank statements and balance sheets for the relevant year to show how they have reflected the relevant transaction in their income tax return," the court order said.

"The judgment debtors shall also file the Income Tax Returns, bank statements and balance sheets for the relevant year to show the transaction between the judgment debtors or their related companies and garnishees. These documents be filed within a period of four weeks," it added.

Also Read:Delhi court seeks action report on Malvinder Singh's complaint against brother Shivinder, RSSB chief Dhillon, Sunil Godhwani

Meanwhile, Saket Court Sessions Judge Sandeep Yadav rejected further enforcement directorate (ED) custodial interrogations of former Ranbaxy promoter Malvinder Singh and former Religare Chairman Sunil Godhwani. Malvinder and Godhwani will be sent to judicial custody and the concerned order is awaited on the same.

Malvinder and Sunil Godhwani are presently in the custody of the ED for interrogation in a money laundering case lodged by the agency in relation to the alleged misappropriation of funds of Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL).

In February this year, Malvinder had filed a complaint in his personal capacity with Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing claiming that his brother and other accused had colluded to cheat him.

Also Read:Daiichi case: 6 days to deadline, RSSB chief Dhillon & family back off from court appearance; cite 'surgeries', 'satsang' as reasons

Malvinder had named Shivinder, Dhillon, his wife Shabnam Dhillon, sons Gurpreet and Gurkirat, daughter-in-law Nayantara Dhillon, Sunil Godhwani and his brother Sanjay Godhwani, and others in his complaint. He had blamed the accused of wrongly taking control and misappropriating funds of RHC Holding Pvt Ltd, the holding company of the Religare group.

In his complaint, Malvinder had blamed Shivinder of siphoning off funds "with the ulterior motive of gaining ultimate control of the seat of spiritual head of the RSSB which has been promised to him by Dhillon in lieu of this financial gain to himself".

Malvinder had also stated that Shivinder had "unilaterally signed a purported "family settlement" with Dhillon agreeing to absolve him of all wrongdoing whatsoever and agreeing that no liabilities or legal proceedings or criminality would be attributable to Dhillon". He further said that Dhillon had been "threatening him from time to time to sign the same settlement".

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

And here's The Economic Times story.

A Delhi court today disposed of a plea to extend custodial interrogation for ex promoter of Ranbaxy Malvinder Singh filed by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED).

The court after considering “rival contentions” and having gone through the application and status report, opined that further custodian interrogation is neither “required” nor “warranted”.

The ED had filed an application in a Delhi court seeking five days further custody of Singh, in a money laundering case lodged by the ED in relation to an alleged misappropriation of funds of Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL). The ED told that court that new facts have emerged after interrogation and during the course of interrogation emails dump of accused and other key management persons have been received which are “voluminous” and are under investigation.

The ED also told the court the e-mails have data connected with proceeds of crime and that Singh is required to be confronted with the e-mails. It further pointed that during their course of investigation, it has summoned two directors of companies “where proceeds of crime” has been transferred. “Three people have been called to join investigation who are required to be confronted with accused persons. It is therefore submitted that further custodian interrogation of the accused is required,” the ED said in its plea.

Manu Sharma, the counsel for Singh vehemently opposed the extension of the custody, submitting that the laptop of Singh was seized in August and there was no justification as to why he was not confronted with those emails earlier. While the ED said that these are fresh emails recovered on November 15, the court while rejecting the plea, remanded Singh to judicial custody till December 7.

The Enforcement agency, on November 14, had arrested Malvinder over charges of misappropriation of funds in RFL.

Malvinder and his brother Shivinder Mohan Singh, the erstwhile promoters of Religare Enterprises Limited (REL), are facing charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust. EOW had picked up the two and ex CMD of REL Sunil Godhwani last month.

The case was registered on the complaint of a senior Religare manager. It was alleged that the company and its subsidiary RFL were cheated and properties worth “hundreds of crores have been misappropriated, siphoned off and diverted through a labyrinth of financial transactions”. The Singh brothers had, in collusion with the co-accused, “orchestrated the financial scam in or around 2016”, the complaint said.

Court seeks update on criminal complaint against RSSB guru and others

Below are two stories in the Indian financial press relating to the criminal complaint filed in February 2019 by Malvinder Singh against his cousin, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas. (A Bloomberg story said that an investigation had been opened.)

Malvinder's lawyer requested that the Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing provide a report on what actions have been taken on the complaint. A court has ordered that this happen by December 12.

I've been wondering about the status of the complaint, since the High Court of Delhi has ordered Dhillon and his family to repay money owed to the Singh brothers and companies once controlled by them. That's a non-criminal order related to money that reportedly went into the pockets of the Dhillon family through shell companies once directed by themselves and their close associates.

But unanswered so far is this question: Was Gurinder Singh Dhillon involved in a criminal conspiracy to obtain funds siphoned from public companies?

Some commenters on this blog have theorized that because Dhillon is a well-known religious leader with millions of followers, and has friends in high places, there's a potential of a cover-up by Indian authorities of his role in this financial scandal involving large amounts of money.

Hopefully that isn't the reason for the lack of observable progresss on Malvinder's criminal complaint.

Since India wants to be a welcoming place for foreign investment, it wouldn't look good if a guru was let off the hook by Indian authorities for bad reasons -- the only good reason being that after a thorough investigation, there wasn't evidence that the RSSB guru and his family did anything wrong.

Here's a Business Today story on this subject.

Delhi's Patiala House court has sought details from Delhi Police about the action taken on complaint by former Ranbaxy promoter Malvinder Singh against brother and co-promoter Shivinder Singh, Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon, former Religare Chairman Sunil Godhwani, and others.

In February this year, Malvinder had filed a complaint in his personal capacity with Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing claiming that his brother and other accused had colluded to cheat him. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Purshottam Pathak has instructed the police to file the action taken report by December 12, the next date for hearing.

Malvinder had named Shivinder, Dhillon, his wife Shabnam Dhillon, sons Gurpreet and Gurkirat, daughter in-law Nayantara Dhillon, Sunil Godhwani and his brother Sanjay Godhwani, and others in his complaint. He had blamed the accused of wrongly taking control and misappropriating funds of RHC Holding Pvt Ltd, the holding company of the Religare group.

ALSO READ: Daiichi case: Supreme Court holds Singh brothers guilty of contempt of court for violating order

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

In his complaint, Malvinder had blamed Shivinder of siphoning off funds "with the ulterior motive of gaining ultimate control of the seat of spiritual head of the RSSB which has been promised to him by Dhillon in lieu of this financial gain to himself".

Malvinder had also stated that Shivinder had "unilaterally signed a purported "family settlement" with Dhillon agreeing to absolve him of all wrongdoing whatsoever and agreeing that no liabilities or legal proceedings or criminality would be attributable to Dhillon". He further said that Dhillon had been "threatening him from time to time to sign the same settlement".

Malvinder and Sunil Godhwani are presently in the custody of Enforcement Directorate for interrogation in a money laundering case lodged by the agency in relation to the alleged misappropriation of funds of Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL). He will remain in ED custody till November 23.

And here's an Economic Times story.

A Delhi court today sought an action taken report from the Economic offences wing (EoW) of the Delhi police on a complaint filed by former promoter of Ranbaxy Malvinder Singh against Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the head of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB). Malvinder had in February filed a complaint in EoW against Dhillon among others for allegedly siphoning off proceeds from the sale of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd.

Malvinder’s lawyer Manu Sharma today approached the court with a plea that there has been no headway in the case filed in February. “So far no action has been taken by the police on the case, in an effort to shield this man. We approached the court today with a grievance that there has been no headway in the case so far. The court has sought action taken report form the police,” Sharma told ET. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Purshottam Pathak has asked the police to file an action taken report by December 12, which is the next date of hearing.

Singh, in his case had also accused his brother Shivinder, the family members of Dhillon including his wife Shabnam Dhillon, his sons Gurpreet and Gurkirat and daughter-in-law Nayan Tara Dhillon and his former associates Sunil and Sanjay Godhwani of conspiring to misappropriate the funds of RHC Holding Pvt Ltd, the company that owned assets of the group and has sought ₹8,742 crore from the accused in compensation.

In his complaint has had said that Singh repeatedly reached out to Babaji, as Dhillon is called, to “resolve" financial matters.

He had mentioned that both brothers had given financial advances to the guru--directly to his entities and family and were invested at his directions.

Malvinder Singh has said in his complaint that his younger brother Shivinder permitted the “siphoning" off of funds with the “motive of gaining ultimate control of the seat of spiritual head of the RSSB" which has been promised to him by Dhillon in lieu of financial gain to himself.

Malvinder is in the custody of ED following a money laundering case related to alleged misappropriation of funds of Religare Finvest.

RSSB guru'a wife deeply involved in real estate deal

This is a follow-up to yesterday's blog post, "Here's an example of Dhillon family connections to shell companies." Someone just sent me a PDF file of an analyst's 2014 report on a company owned by Shabnam Dhillon, the wife of the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas.

Download SGGD-Projects-Development-PPMLD_335Cr-Rationale-9May2014

The company, SGGD Projects Development Pvt Ltd, is one of the 56 entities, many or most controlled by the Dhillon family, that the High Court of Delhi has ordered money to be recovered from.

A screenshot of part of the report shows how deeply Shabnam Dhillon, and the Dhillon family in general, were involved in high stakes financial dealings -- at the same time Gurinder Singh Dhillon was preaching about the need to live a pure and simple life in which spiritual advancement should take precedence over acquiring great wealth.

Here's an example of Dhillon family connections to shell companies

Recently I received a message from someone who replicated part of the research that journalists with the Indian financial press have been doing in connection with the financial scandal involving the Singh brothers, their guru cousin (Gurinder Singh Dhillon), and close associates of the Dhillon family.

I'm sharing what this person learned by delving into public business records for several reasons.

One, it's interesting. Two, it shows what lies beneath the many stories published by the Indian financial press, which some defenders of the Radha Soami Satsang Beas guru wrongly call "fake news." Three, it points to the fact that if this much can be learned by an ordinary citizen or reporter, investigative authorities in India surely are able to learn much more.

As background to what you'll read below, Luminous Holdings is one of the 56 entities the High Court of Delhi has ordered that money be recovered from, so the Singh brothers can pay a $500 million settlement owed to Daiichi Sankyo after it was found that the brothers failed to disclose information about adulterated drugs in the course of Daiichi buying Ranbaxy, their pharmaceutical firm.

Here's an excerpt from a September 2018 blog post I wrote about a The Indian Express story that mentions Luminous Holdings.

According to a source privy to the development, some senior members of the sect recently asked Dhillon about his reaction to various news reports regarding the Singh brothers. The source said that Dhillon told these members that he has answers to all the questions that have been raised and he will give the answers himself at an opportune time. Dhillon told the senior members that spiritual and business aspects of our lives are separate and that devotees should focus on the former and not get diverted from it.

The RHC Holding as well as the RSSB did not respond to the queries sent by The Indian Express. Another source — involved with RSSB’s corporate dealings — added that Dhillons have been in business with Singh brothers for a very long time. “Take the example of Luminous Holdings, which was set up in 2002, and has Babaji himself as a director. Moreover, his wife Shabnam Dhillon is the other director of this company,” he said.

According to documents with corporate affairs ministry, Luminous Holdings had a long term borrowing of Rs 6.5 crore as on March 2017. Of that, around Rs 4.4 crore came from Delhi-based Fern Healthcare. In June, a probe by law firm Luthra and Luthra found that Singh brothers moved about Rs 475 crore from Fortis to various private companies. Fern Healthcare was one of them.

Thus it isn't surprising that it is taking investigators in India quite a while to understand the complex web of financial transactions, many of them fraudulent, that involve companies once controlled by the Singh brothers and the Dhillon family. The message that I received deals with only one small strand of this web.

Read on... (As noted above, Shabnam Dhillon is the wife of Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the RSSB guru.)

Hey Brian, hope you're well. Sharing some of my recent findings. I've conducted some research into the shell companies, purely out of curiosity :)

zaubacorp.com is a reliable directory/website where you can find out details about Private Limited Companies. All of which are public domain information made available at Ministry of Corporate Affairs website (Government-owned).

 

http://www.mca.gov.in/mcafoportal/showEnquireDIN.do

 

Shabnam Dhillon is registered with Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). Their DIN is 00995960.  [Director Identification Number (DIN) is a permanent number assigned to Directors of registered companies]

 

The following link will show only one company associated with Shabnam Dhillon, but if you register on this website (free) you can see historic data of associations (now that's a gold mine for some investigation IMO).

 

https://www.zaubacorp.com/director/SHABNAM-DHILLON/00995960   Attached screenshots show past associations.

 

Came across this interesting company "LUMINOUS HOLDINGS PRIVATE LIMITED"  guess who are the Directors? Check the 2nd attachment. GSD [Gurinder Singh Dhillon] himself is one of them but his DIN is in an inactive state, means he is no longer listed as a director on any of the shell companies.

 

Clearly, they are trying to remove any links to Dhillon family to shell companies, as you can see most of the current Directors are recently appointed 2016-19. Unfortunately for them, there are a lot of services like zaubacorp.com where you can find historic data too.

 

You are probably aware of most of these companies, I just wanted to share what I came across. I'm closely watching how the local media (mostly English, financial press) is covering this whole fiasco. One thing is very clear, GSD is way deep into this whole shebang. And they're doing whatever it takes to cover up any traces. 

This is the screenshot of the current and past directors of Luminous Holdings. You can see that the two current directors took over on May 4, 2019, the day Gurinder Singh Dhillon ceased to be a director. His wife, Shabnam, ceased to be a director a few days later, on May 9, 2019.

And I believe the following screenshot is a list of past companies Shabnam Dhillon was a director of.

Note that Prius Real Estate, Prius Commercial Projects, and Sharan Hospitality are some of the companies in this Business Today graphic of how money flowed into the pockets of the Dhillon family from companies once controlled by the Singh brothers. 

So any claim by the RSSB guru that he and his family didn't receive any money from RHC Holding, Fortis, and other Singh brothers' entities almost certainly would be false.

 

Story about Gurinder Singh Dhillon and RSSB casts light on legal problems

Check out an excellent lengthy story about a guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) organization that he leads, and the financial scandal the Dhillon family and his close associates are connected to.
Download Gurinder Singh Dhillon — the music & film-loving Radha Soami head at heart of Fortis crisis

The reporter who wrote ThePrint story, Nandita Singh, emailed me with questions, which I responded to in writing. Unfortunately, I didn't proofread my reply closely enough and left out a word, "no," in the quote included in the final paragraph of the story, where I meant to say "no wrong."

Here's some excerpts from the story to whet your appetite to read the whole thing, which presents a balanced view of Gurinder Singh Dhillon and Radha Soami Satsang Beas. I've added "no" in brackets in the final paragraph.

Interestingly, the reporter had her phone taken away after she snapped a photo at a RSSB center, just as happened to someone else in the United Kingdom who recorded some audio at a RSSB gathering. If RSSB doesn't want to be looked upon as a cult, its members should stop acting so fanatical.

...But outside the cocoon of the Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) ashram in Bhati, Chhatarpur, the spiritual organisation’s moral messaging is becoming increasingly hard to believe.

The century-old spiritual organisation’s head, 64-year-old Gurinder Singh Dhillon, is at the centre of one of India’s most high-profile business fiascos this year.

In October, former billionaire brothers Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, now on the verge of bankruptcy, were arrested by the Delhi Police economic offences wing (EOW) for allegedly causing a loss of Rs 2,397 crore to Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL), a subsidiary of Religare Enterprises.

Eight months prior to that, Malvinder, the embattled business tycoon and former Ranbaxy, Religare and Fortis promoter, had filed a criminal complaint against his younger brother Shivinder, claiming that he conspired with a number of close associates to siphon off Rs 2,700 crore from their family’s holding company (RHC Holdings).

The money, Malvinder alleged, was transferred into the bank accounts of “Guruji” Dhillon and his associates in the form of loans made through a complicated network of smaller corporations, and used, in part, to expand the sect’s real-estate empire.

This allegedly included the purchase of 2,60,000 sq ft of prime real estate in Delhi (near Select Citywalk Mall), 80,000 sq ft of property in Ahmedabad, 500,000 sq ft in Noida, three farmhouses in Asola, and 8,71,200 sq ft in Gurgaon, Live Mint reported.

The tale only gets murkier, with Malvinder alleging that Shivinder had an ambition to one day head the powerful RSSB. Both brothers were Friday held in contempt by the Supreme Court, in another case involving the sale of Ranbaxy to Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo.

...How is a spiritual guru related to all this? Dhillon is cousin to the Singhs’ mother, and assumed a father-like role for the boys after their own passed away in the late 1990s.

The well-connected Babaji succeeded the Singh brothers’ maternal grandfather (his uncle) to become the guru of the popular sect in 1990. He was informed about the succession after a long flight, a close associate says, while he was dressed in jeans.

After the allegations surfaced, Dhillon denied owing any money to RHC Holdings, even after the Delhi High Court ordered him and 54 other associates, including his family, to cough up Rs 6,000 crore as repayment.

But now, while maintaining his debt-free innocence, Dhillon has finally owned up to financial transactions between him and the Ranbaxy brothers.

In a 12 November affidavit, the RSSB chief finally said the Singh brothers had approached him in 2010 to buy more rights in REL. To do this, Dhillon says, the brothers spent a reported Rs 440 crore through RHC on his behalf, adding that he “would not be made liable to repay any amount or interest”.

...This isn’t the first time the RSSB has come under public scrutiny for suspected illegal activity. For years, the rapid expansion of its real-estate empire has been at the centre of land-grabbing allegations, with the Delhi Forest Department officially filing an affidavit before the National Green Tribunal in 2014.

In the 350-page affidavit, the RSSB is described as an “illegal occupant” squatting on 174.98 acres of forest land in Asola Mines, Chhatarpur — where the Bhati ashram is. Further, the Delhi Forest Department believes that the dera, along with spiritual slums that sprung up next to it, are damaging the ecology of the Delhi ridge, the lungs of a city throttled by pollution.

The RSSB denies all allegations, stating that the land was bought by them, and they were willing to furnish the paperwork when asked.

...As the success stories of Fortis Healthcare Ltd and Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL) unravel, what appears to be at the faultline of the Singhs’ fall from grace is this very interconnected network of influential kin that initially helped them, and the RSSB, grow.

“I’m strongly inclined to believe the reports in the Indian financial press that Malivinder and Shivinder trusted Gurinder (Dhillon) as a father figure and spiritual adviser. But also, a business adviser,” says Brian Hines, an American who was a member of the sect’s US community for 35 years.

“Babaji’s influence over the affairs of Religare was ubiquitous — he pulled most of the strings,” the family associate adds.

“The relationship between Malvinder, Shivinder, Sunny (Sunil Godhwani) and Babaji wasn’t a secret at all, they would constantly be together and very visibly so. In fact, everyone would say ‘Religare is Babaji’s’, says the associate.

...Even in Hine’s experience at the commune, the “RSSB is a highly top-down organisation”. “The guru makes decisions and lower-level people implement them under his close supervision,” he says.

The sewadars describe Babaji as being “someone who talks in a way that everyone can relate to… but whom you can’t access easily”, a believer in Delhi who did not want to be named says.

...“As in all religions, the true believers are fanatical,” adds Hines. “I know, because I get so many comments on my blog posts telling me I must stop writing about Gurinder because he is God and can do [no] wrong. I ignore them, of course. I’m sure journalists get the same sort of angry insults.”

RSSB guru and his family told to provide evidence of no liabilities to Singh brothers

In addition to stories I shared in two other blog posts about today's developments in the High Court of Delhi case involving the Singh brothers and their relative, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, below is another story from The Indian Express.

The court is turning up the heat on the Dhillon family and others who, according to the Singh brothers, owe money to them that would enable Malvinder and Shivinder to pay a $500 million settlement to Daiichi Sankyo, a Japanese firm that got the settlement after it bought a pharmaceutical firm owned by the Singh brothers that had undisclosed problems with adulterated drugs.

As you can read below, this is the way a legal system should work. Both sides have to present facts and evidence that support their assertions, then a decision is made as to who has the best case.

What's interesting here is that the RSSB guru is considered to be God in Human Form, or at least a divine being, by his devotees. So for 29 years, since Dhillon became the guru, he has had little experience with people questioning him. Dhillon is used to fawning admiration, by and large.

Now, though, Daiichi Sankyo and RHC Holding, the two corporations that consider the Dhillon family to be sitting on large amounts of money that belongs to them, don't care about Dhillon's spiritual credentials. They just want their damn money!

So it'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

As the story says, the RSSB guru and others have four weeks to provide documentary evidence that they don't owe money to the Singh brothers. Further, the "garnishees" named in the High Court order are obliged to answer questions from Daiichi Sankyo.

On February 5 the High Court will have a hearing where, seemingly, the conflicting truth claims of the various parties will be sorted out. 

Here's The Indian Express story.

The Delhi High Court Thursday directed companies and persons who allegedly owe monies to former Ranbaxy promoters Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh to provide documentary evidence — including income tax filings, bank statements and balance sheets — to support claims that they have no pending financial liabilities towards the brothers.

The HC direction potentially opens Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family to further scrutiny, as Dhillon had — in an affidavit filed with the HC on November 12— claimed to have returned all the money he had borrowed from the Singhs and that, instead, the brothers owed him over Rs 70 crore.

The court also allowed Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo to send questions related to these transactions to over 50 such firms and individuals, or garnishees. They will then have to compulsorily answer those questions. Justice J R Midha has also asked the garnishees to submit documentary evidence if they contest claims of loans made to them by RHC Holding Pvt, a firm controlled by the Singhs.

Daiichi on Thursday also claimed that the garnishees had not complied with all earlier court orders to disclose “all their dealings and transactions” with the Singh brothers, their family members, and the firms controlled by them. The HC has given the garnishees four weeks to file said the affidavits. Daiichi is seeking over Rs 3,600 crore in damages from the Singhs for allegedly concealing information regarding wrongdoing at Ranbaxy when they sold it to Daiichi for $4.6 billion in 2008.

Financial deals with Ranbaxy brothers, admits Beas sect head

RHC Holding had, in October, told the HC that its subsidiaries had “huge receivables” from Dhillon and his family. The RSSB head, however, has denied these claims. Instead, he has alleged that the holding company is yet to pay him over Rs 70 crore, loaned to the Singhs upon their request in 2011 after his sons sold some of their shares in Religare Enterprises.

“In summary, over the course of 2011-2015, out of the surplus of Rs 103.5 crore with Respondent No. 19 (RHC) … the Deponent (Dhillon) and his family drew only Rs 29.38 crore, leaving a balance surplus of Rs 74.12 crore,” Dhillon said in his affidavit. “These amounts have never been repaid,” he added. Dhillon has also alleged that the Singhs used bank accounts owned by his family to conduct circular transactions over Rs 600 crore, the purpose of which was “unknown” to them.

A group of companies comprising Best Healthcare, Fern Healthcare, Modland Wears, Best Health Management, Devera Developers, Vitoba Realtors and Adept Lifespaces, “from time to time … moved money between themselves”, the affidavit read.

“These transactions essentially involved transferring money from one subsidiary to a bank account of the Deponent and/or his family members and then transferring the same money, either on the same day or shortly thereafter, to another subsidiary of the group or usually to Respondent No. 19 itself,” it stated.

“The transactions carried out by Respondent No. 19 resulted in GP (Gurpreet Singh Dhillon) and GK (Gurkirat Singh Dhillon) receiving funds from various companies controlled by Respondent No. 19, which were immediately transferred to Respondent No. 19 and/or other companies controlled by Respondent No. 19,” Dhillon’s affidavit added.

Between 2011 and 2016, RHC’s subsidiaries had transferred Rs 292.91 crore and Rs 428.59 crore, respectively, to Dhillon’s sons Gurpreet and Gurkirat. Of this, Rs 291.70 crore was transferred back from Gurpreet’s account and Rs 427.78 crore from Gurkirat’s account to RHC or one of the other subsidiaries, the affidavit claimed. Queries sent to RHC and Dhillon’s lawyer remained unanswered by press time on Thursday.

High Court delays hearing involving RSSB guru and others to February 5

Here's another story relating to the involvement of Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, in irregular financial transactions. 

Today's Economic Times story casts more light on the affidavit submitted by Dhillon in response to a High Court of Delhi order. Yesterday I shared another story on the same subject.

As you can read below, Dhillon admits that his sons participated in suspicious "round trip" transfers of money between RHC Holding and shell companies controlled wholly or in part by the Dhillon family, where money would be paid and repaid so rapidly, it didn't show up on accounting statements until this was eventually discovered.

Another interesting aspect of the story is that it answers a question in an earlier post today following the arrest of Malvinder Singh by India's Enforcement Directorate. What happened to the November 14 hearing of the High Court regarding this matter? The last paragraph of the story below says:

The court that took up the matter today asked the other garnishees to file their affidavit to the court registrar by 18 December. The next date of hearing is February 5.

So Dhillon and his family will have to answer more questions about their involvement in this financial scandal. The RSSB guru is challenging the financial records of RHC Holding.

Dhillon has categorically denied liability to repay the said amounts and also denied the validity or correctness of the ledgers annexed in the RHC affidavit. “The said ledgers were never shared with the deponent or his family members and the same are denied for lack of knowledge or even otherwise,” it added.

"Denied for lack of knowledge" seems like a weak excuse. And now the Dhillon family isn't denying that they received fraudulent funds. They're just denying that they have to pay the money back.
Download Radha Soami chief admits to financial dealings with Singh brothers - The Economic Times

Chief of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) Gurinder Singh Dhillon has admitted of his financial dealings with the Singh brothers though he denied of “any liability” towards RHC holdings Ltd, promoted by Malvinder and Shivinder Singh. In an affidavit filed before the Delhi High court on November 12, Dhillon has disclosed about the financial transactions between RHC holdings Ltd and his family members dating back to 2006.

The court had in October ordered Dhillon along with his wife Shabnam, sons Gurkirat and Gurpreet and daughter in law Nayan Tara 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 Sankyo against former Ranbaxy promoters. While in his plea Dhillon had told the court that RHC Holding has made false claims. The court in its order had then asked the Dhillons to file relevant documents related to their dealings and transactions with the garnishees and their related companies.

The Dhillons 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 %.

According to a 74 page affidavit filed in the High Court, Dhillon has said that in 2010, RHC holdings Ltd (respondent 19) through Singh brothers had approached him to assist them in subscribing for the rights issue, suggesting that they would finance Dhillons to subscribe to the rights issue. Dhillon has said that it was agreed that he and his family members would not be made liable to repay any amount or interest. “It was also agreed that upon the shares being sold or disposed of if the price realised was below the subscribed price, then the entire amount would be shared 50:50” between RHC and Dhillons family who had subscribed to the shares”.

He has claimed that in view of the “complete trust” and “close family relationship” between the families, they did not record any agreement and the arrangement was based “purely on mutual oral understanding and agreement”. “In fact at that time the local bank accounts from which the transactions were taking place were looked after by respondent No 19’s team,” it said.

On the basis of “verbal agreement” in February 2010, RHC transferred Rs 219 crore each to his sons, which was then used to subscribe to the rights issue, resulting in an allotment of 61,83,013 shares of REL to each of his sons.

According to the affidavit, Dhillon has disclosed that his sons sold off some shares in 2011 which they had purchased in 2006. The rest of the shares, according to Dhillon’s affidavit were “pledged to the lenders in connection with loans taken to facilitate share purchase transaction for the benefit of Malvinder and Shivinder. The pledges were invoked and the shares were sold at a substantial loss,” it said. Resultantly, the family doesn’t own REL shares, he claims. Dhillon has said that RHC had surplus funds of his sons of Rs 103.50 crores and it was agreed that the amount would be repaid to the Dhillons as and when required.

He has also disclosed that RHC devised such a mechanism that transactions essentially involved transferring money from one subsidiary to a bank account of Dhillons and then transferring the same money either on the same day or shortly thereafter to another subsidiary of the group or usually to RHC holdings Ltd.

“The transactions carried out by Respondent 19 (RHC holdings) resulted in Gurpreet and Gurkirat receiving funds from various companies controlled by Respondent 19 which were immediately transferred to Respondent 19 or to other companies controlled by Respondent 19,” It said.

In fact, he has claimed that over the course of 2011-2015, out of the surplus of Rs 103.5 crores with RHC he and his family drew only Rs29.38 crores, leaving the balance surplus of Rs 74.12 crores. “Thus an amount of Rs 74.12 crores continues to be due from RHC holdngs Ltd”.

According to his affidavit, “no amounts are payable by his, his wife and his daughter in law to any of the entities named in the RHC affidavit.

Dhillon has categorically denied liability to repay the said amounts and also denied the validity or correctness of the ledgers annexed in the RHC affidavit. “The said ledgers were never shared with the deponent or his family members and the same are denied for lack of knowledge or even otherwise,” it added.

The court that took up the matter today asked the other garnishees to file their affidavit to the court registrar by 18 December. The next date of hearing is February 5.

Malvinder Singh arrested by Enforcement Directorate, leaving questions unanswered

Well, the Bollywood'ish financial fraud drama involving the Singh brothers and their relative, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, has taken another turn -- with more curves in the legal road seemingly lying ahead.

A story in The Economic Times (below) says that India's Enforcement Directorate has just arrested Malvinder Singh and Sunil Godhwani, who previously was the guru's right hand man and personal financial adviser. 

Previously Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, along with Godhwani, had been arrested by the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of the Delhi police. So now they've been re-arrested by an organization that investigates money laundering and other illegal financial acts.

It sounds from the story that one purpose of the new arrests is "custodial interrogation." This makes sense, since there are important questions remaining to be answered in this case.

(1) Malvinder has told the High Court of Delhi that the $500 million or so owed by the Singh brothers in a settlement related to the sale of their pharmaceutical firm, Ranbaxy, resides in 55 entities (people and shell companies), including the Dhillon family. The High Court had ordered these entities to repay the money. A High Court hearing was supposed to be held today on this. So far there's no word if it happened. If it didn't, why not?

(2) The story below says that money went to various persons, then siphoned off. Previously progress seems to have been made on tracing the money flows. Likely this will continue under the Enforcement Directorate. Pretty clearly, Malvinder and Godhwani didn't engage in fraud for their own benefit, since the money didn't end up with them.

So it's important to learn who ended up with the money, and who orchestrated the financial fraud. Malvinder's lawyer has called for the arrest of the RSSB guru. Reportedly Dhillon, his family, and close associates ended up with most of the illegally siphoned money.

(3) Why is it taking so long for this case to be resolved? Yes, it is complex, involving numerous people, corporations, shell companies, and investigative organizations. But it sure seems like skilled forensic accountants could have figured out the money flows by now, since some details of the financial fraud activity have been reported in the Indian financial press.

I'm wondering how cooperative some central actors in the fraud have been, notably Sunil Godhwani. Given his close connections to the RSSB guru, is he refusing to testify about his role in the fraud, who orchestrated it, and why it was committed?

Here's today's The Economic Times story. 

The ED on Thursday arrested former Fortis HealthcareNSE -0.35 %promoter Malvinder Singh and former CMD of Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL) Sunil Godhwani in a money-laundering case related to alleged misappropriation of funds of Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL).

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) took both the accused in its custody inside the Tihar central jail here, where they are currently lodged in a case filed by the Delhi Police in relation to the alleged scam.

A court here was informed about the development by the agency's lawyer, Nitesh Rana, who urged it to issue a production warrant against the accused for seeking their custodial interrogation.

The court, however, directed that the accused be produced before a metropolitan magistrate in the central jail itself since trial prisoners are not being produced in the Saket District Court, either physically or through video-conference, due to the ongoing lawyers' strike.

"The court is informed that accused Malvinder Mohan Singh and Sunil Godhwani are lodged in central jail numbers 8 and 7 respectively at Tihar Jail. Accordingly, the applications filed by the ED be put up before the concerned duty MM, Tihar jail tomorrow, i.e, November 15, for disposal in accordance with law," Special Judge Sandeep Yadav said.

Both Singh and Godhwani are accused of laundering money, punishable under sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the ED said.

They were in judicial custody along with Singh's brother Shivinder and two others -- Kavi Arora and Anil Saxena -- in a case filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police.

RFL is a group firm of REL, which was earlier promoted by the Singh brothers.

According to the ED, both the accused, along with others, transferred an amount of approximately Rs 1,000 crore to various persons from entities linked to the corporate loan book and finally, the money was siphoned off.

The agency started its investigation in the matter on the basis of a case lodged by the Delhi Police.

Malvinder (46), Shivinder (44), Godhwani (58), Arora (48) and Saxena were arrested by the Delhi Police's EOW for allegedly diverting the money and investing in other companies.

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

"They put RFL in a poor financial condition by disbursing loans to companies with no financial standing and controlled by them. The companies to which the loans were disbursed willfully defaulted in repayments and caused a loss to RFL to the tune of Rs 2,397 crore," the police had alleged.

RSSB guru admits to financial deals with Singh brothers

A commenter on this blog recently shared a link to this story in The Indian Express. It's a prelude to the November 14 hearing before  the High Court of Delhi, where parties who allegedly owe money to the Singh brothers (Malvinder and Shivinder) have been ordered to appear as part of the $500 million settlement award to Daiichi.

Download Financial deals with Ranbaxy brothers admits Beas sect head | Business News The Indian Express

l found it sort of curious that Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the RSSB guru, filed an affidavit admitting to being part of an illegal financial transaction just two days prior to the High Court hearing. It's also interesting that reportedly the guru has said that he didn't receive any money from anyone but his parents, since it appears that Dhillon was a beneficiary of the deal described below. 

THE HEAD of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, has, for the first time, admitted to financial transactions between himself and ex-Religare Enterprises (REL) promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Singh.

In an affidavit filed with the Delhi High Court dated November 12 and reviewed by The Indian Express, Dhillon admitted that the Singh brothers had in 2010, through RHC Holding (a company controlled by the brothers), approached him and his family to subscribe to a rights issue of REL that was not fully subscribed “at that moment”. A part of the rights issue was funded by RHC and the Singh brothers, who Radha Soami sect head admits to financial deals with Ranbaxy brothers spent a total of Rs 440 crore on the transaction.

“It was suggested by them (Malvinder and Shivinder Singh) that they would finance the deponent (Dhillon) and his family to subscribe to the rights issue. It was agreed that the deponent and his family members would not be made liable to repay any amount or interest in respect of the said finance management since it was being done at the behest of RHC, Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh,” Dhillon has said in his affidavit.

“It was also agreed upon that the shares being sold and/ or disposed of, if the price realised was higher than the subscribed prices, the upside would be shared 50:50 between RHC and the members of the deponent’s family (Dhillons) who had subscribed to the shares,” he added.

He goes on to admit that his sons, Gurpreet Singh Dhillon and Gurkirat Singh Dhillon, were given possession of over 61 lakh shares each through the subscription.

“On the basis of this verbal agreement, on 11.02.2010, Respondent No. 19 (RHC) transferred Rs 219.5 crore each to GP (Gurpreet) and GK (Gurkirat), which was then used to subscribe to the rights issue, resulting in an allotment of 61,83,013 shares of REL to each of GP and GK. The entire transaction was handled by Respondent No. 19’s team,” said Dhillon.

Dhillon has claimed that as the two families were then in a “very close relationship”, they did not record any written agreement. He has absolved his family members from any involvement in the financial transactions carried out by him. He, however, distanced himself from allegations of fund diversion by claiming that the brothers, as well as RHC had “deliberately” avoided giving a clear picture of all transactions between them as it would show “that nothing whatsoever is owed by the deponent (Dhillon) and his family members” to RHC or any of its subsidiaries.

The transactions alleged by Dhillon are in violation of Securities and Exchange Bureau of India (SEBI) norms on promoters’ role in rights issues of companies.

The religious sect head also states in his affidavit that in 2006, he had, on behalf of his sons, purchased REL shares worth Rs 12.50 crore. Of this, Rs 6 crore was loaned to Gurpreet and Gurkirat by RHC. A further sum of Rs 35 crore was taken out by his sons as loans for personal purposes, but was subsequently returned in 2011, Dhillon claimed in his affidavit.

Queries sent to RHC and Dhillon remained unanswered by press time Wednesday.

Earlier, Malvinder Singh had, in an affidavit to the High Court and Supreme Court, alleged that Dhillon and persons associated with him had diverted close to Rs 6,000 crore from RHC. The monies were loans and advances given by RHC and the Singh brothers to companies such as Prius Real Estate, as well as to Sunil Godhwani, and Dhillon, Malvinder Singh had claimed in his affidavit.

In October, based on the submissions made by Malvinder Singh, the Delhi High Court had asked all the 55 garnishees to deposit the money they owed to the Singh brothers and RHC, within 30 days. The court had also asked Dhillon and his family members to be personally present in the court on November 14. Garnishees are companies that owe money to RHC, which is currently locked in litigation with Japanese drug-maker Daiichi Sankyo.

Daiichi has alleged the Singh brothers concealed information regarding wrongdoing at Ranbaxy when selling the firm to it in 2008 and is seeking over Rs 3,600 crore in damages from them.

Good overview of Singh brothers/RSSB guru financial mess

This LiiStudio story is about a month old, but I'm sharing it because it provides good background material on the fascinating drama surrounding the Singh brothers and their relative, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas.

There are numerous strands in the tangled web of this tale of fraud, loans gone bad, and deceit.

Hopefully some of the strands will be made more clear in the upcoming November 14 hearing of the High Court of Delhi involving those responsible for payment of a $500 million award to a Japanese company that bought the Singh brothers' pharmaceutical firm.

Below I've highlighted in red mentions of the RSSB guru, since many people who visit this blog are interested in how the Dhillon family fits into these cases.

The key questions that remain to be answered in this mess appear to be these:

(1) Who were the ultimate beneficiaries of the money that was fraudulently siphoned from Religare and Fortis into shell companies? There's reason to believe that these beneficiaries included members of the Dhillon family and their close associates. This is relevant to the Daiichi award, since the Singh brothers, or at least Malvinder, are claiming the money needed to pay the award resides with other people.

(2) Were those beneficiaries involved in the financial fraud? If so, they could be charged as co-conspirators.

(3) Does the Dhillon family need to repay the hundreds of millions of dollars that reportedly went into their pockets from the Singh brothers following the sale of Ranbaxy? Was this a gift from the Singh brothers or a loan?

(4) Assuming the Dhillon family owes money to the Singh brothers, do they have the requisite assets to repay those loans? Documents required by the High Court of Delhi seemingly would answer this question.

New Delhi: Malvinder Mohan Singh and his youthful brother Shivinder Mohan Singh, former promoters of pharmacy firm Ranbaxy, hospital chain Fortis and monetary companies agency Religare, have been this week arrested by the Financial Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police for allegedly dishonest and inflicting a lack of Rs 2,397 crore to Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL), a subsidiary of Religare Enterprises.

The police additionally arrested former Religare Finvest MD Kavi Arora, in addition to ex-group CFO Anil Saxena and MD Sunil Godhwani.

The Singh brothers have been as soon as profitable businessmen who featured on Forbes’ listing of billionaires, working India’s main pharma firm. However they’re now in police custody, with a number of instances of dishonest and fraud, and allegations of siphoning cash utilizing a fancy internet of firms.

Whereas their present arrest is for alleged fraud associated to Religare Finvest, they’ve two extra investigations pending towards them. One is an allegation of siphoning round Rs 472 crore from Fortis Healthcare, whereas the opposite is about preserving Japanese drug main Daiichi Sankyo in the dead of night whereas promoting Ranbaxy to it that a US drug regulator was probing the agency. A Singapore tribunal had handed a Rs three,500 crore award in favour of Daiichi, which the Singh brothers are but to pay.

Who’re the Singh brothers?

Malvinder and Shivinder are grandsons of Bhai Mohan Singh, a businessman from Rawalpindi who settled in Delhi after Partition.

Bhai Mohan Singh took over the debt-ridden Ranbaxy from his cousins Ranbir and Gurbax Singh. Mohan Singh’s son Parvinder drove the agency to the highest of the Indian pharmaceutical business.

Parvinder’s sons Malvinder and Shivinder each graduated from Duke College’s Fuqua College of Enterprise within the US, and formally took over the corporate after Parvinder’s dying in 1999. They bought it to Daiichi Sankyo in 2008 for Rs 9,576 crore.

In accordance with officers, with the cash obtained from Ranbaxy’s sale, the brothers spent Rs 2,000 crore to repay loans, invested Rs 1,750 crore in Religare, and put Rs 2,230 crore in Fortis.

The remaining Rs 2,700 crore was reportedly transferred to Gurinder Singh Dhillon, head of the religious sect Radha Soami Satsang Beas, and his household.

The Religare Finvest case

In accordance with officers within the EOW, the Singh brothers, who have been in “absolute control” of Religare Enterprises Restricted (REL) and its subsidiaries, put Religare Finvest Restricted (RFL) in poor monetary situation by distributing loans to firms having no monetary standing, which they themselves managed.

“These companies then wilfully defaulted on repayments, causing a loss to RFL to the tune of Rs 2,397 crore,” an official defined.

In November 2016 and January 2017, RFL invested Rs 750 crore as fastened deposits within the Lakshmi Vilas Financial institution (LVB).

In July 2017, RFL reportedly found that LVB credited the proceeds of the deposits to RFL’s present account, and in addition debited an quantity of Rs 724 crore with out preserving RFL within the loop.

When RFL discovered in regards to the transfer, it instantly contacted the financial institution and in addition despatched authorized notices to the financial institution to re-institute the FDs, stating it had not given any go-ahead to dissolve them. Following a authorized discover, the financial institution agreed to revive the FDs.

5 months later, in December 2017, RFL reportedly obtained a communication from the financial institution, stating that loans amounting to Rs 532 crore and Rs 174.eight crore got to 2 firms held by the Singh brothers — RHC Holding and Ranchem Pvt Ltd respectively, factoring the FDs as collateral.

RFL then claimed that LVB didn’t ship it any info earlier than putting the FDs as safety towards the loans disbursed to the 2 firms.

RFL then filed a swimsuit within the Delhi Excessive Courtroom towards the financial institution for voluntarily placing the FDs as a assure towards a mortgage that it was not conscious of.

“RFL stated it had not executed any documentation for putting the FDs towards any loans that were wrongfully disbursed to the two companies controlled by Singh brothers,” an official defined.

RFL additionally made a proper criticism on this regard to EOW, and a case was registered. Following this, the Reserve Financial institution of India positioned LVB beneath its immediate corrective motion framework.

The Daiichi-Ranbaxy case

Malvinder and Shivinder have additionally been accused of siphoning funds via a fancy “web of companies” by Daiichi Sankyo, which additionally alleged that the brothers hadn’t disclosed the US drug regulator’s probe towards Ranbaxy on the time of sale.

Daiichi has additionally claimed that ANR Securities, RHC Holding, Ranchem and Malvinder maintain Prius Actual Property, wherein they put funds amounting to Rs 1,429.50 crore via debentures.

Daiichi additionally alleged that the brothers fraudulently diverted a sum of Rs 1,407.33 crore in Shimal Healthcare (which they personal collectively) via debentures and desire shares, and that this firm was additionally used to divert funds to different entities.

A debenture is a long-term bond or an unsecured mortgage issued by an organization with out pledging an asset, whereas desire share is a share which entitles the holder to a hard and fast dividend.

Daiichi is but to get well the Rs three,500 crore awarded to it by a Singapore tribunal, and has urged the Delhi Excessive Courtroom to connect the Singh brothers’ properties to get well the dues.

Case involving Fortis Healthcare

One other case entails Fortis Healthcare, which, in February this 12 months, had written to market regulator Securities and Trade Board of India to provoke authorized proceedings towards the brothers and get well Rs 472 crore, which have been allegedly taken out of the corporate via inter-corporate deposits to companies linked to them.

An inter-corporate deposit is an unsecured borrowing by corporates from different company entities. A company agency having surplus funds can thus lend to a different in want.

In October 2018, SEBI discovered the diversion of those funds to be “fraudulent” and directed Malvinder and Shivinder to repay this quantity, together with extra curiosity, to Fortis by January 2019. The brothers, nevertheless, did not make these funds.

What the brothers have mentioned in courtroom

Malvinder’s lawyer Manu Sharma informed a courtroom Friday that it was ‘Baba’ Dhillon, not his shopper, who was the beneficiary of the transactions.

“They don’t go after that person to whose doorstep the money leads because he’s heading some great religious organisation,” Sharma mentioned in courtroom.

Sharma additionally mentioned his shopper didn’t have a “single penny”.

Nonetheless, Shivinder, who has not engaged a lawyer, has mentioned he would “cooperate with the investigation and follow whatever order the court gives”.

How will the High Court of Delhi treat the RSSB guru?

What do you think will happen to Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, when the High Court of Delhi has a hearing on November 14 involving those ordered to repay money owed to the Singh brothers and companies they once controlled, so a $500 million award can be made in connection with the sale of a pharmaceutical firm to a Japanese company? 

Dhillon and his family are part of those who have been ordered by the court to prepare documents showing their assets, though the Dhillon family has been excused from attending the hearing in person. The RSSB guru claims that he and his family owe no money.

Yesterday I wrote a blog post about using "inference to the best explanation" to deal with questions both in science and everyday life. So if you like, use your personal inference capabilities and leave a comment about your best prediction of what will happen to the RSSB guru and his family on November 14 when, to my knowledge, the hearing will be.

Here's a few possibilities to get your inference juices flowing. My inference is #3, but naturally I could be wrong.

(1) The High Court says that Dhillon and his family owe no money at all.

(2) The High Court says that Dhillon and his family owe some money, but not a lot.

(3) The High Court says that Dhillon and his family owe a lot of money, like hundreds of millions of dollars.

(4) The High Court says that Dhillon and his family owe a lot of money, and engaged in illegal activities. 

Gurinder Singh Dhillon

RSSB guru and his family make up reasons to avoid court appearance

Wow. Big news regarding the Singh brothers/Dhillon family financial scandal drama.

After being ordered by the High Court of Delhi to appear before it on November 14, along with other parties involved in what appears to be fraudulent transfers of funds that now prevent the Singh brothers from having enough money to pay an award related to their sale of a pharmaceutical firm, the family of Gurinder Singh Dhillon, guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, has made up some marvelously unbelievable excuses for not being able to make the court hearing.

This is more evidence that Dhillon and his family have done something wrong.

Innocent people welcome the opportunity to tell their side of a story in court. Guilty people don't. Hopefully the court will look at the Dhillon family excuses with a highly skeptical eye, because those excuses make very little sense.

Here's two stories from the Indian financial press about this development. This is a Business Today story.
Download Daiichi case: 6 days to deadline RSSB chief Dhillon & family back off from court appearance

Six days before their scheduled hearing in the Delhi High Court in the Daiichi Sankyo case, the Gurinder Singh Dhillon family has backed off from personal appearance in court citing reasons ranging from "surgeries" abroad to "satsang commitments".

The court had 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 on November 14. They were also asked to come up with all the required documents relating to the dealings.

While Gurinder Singh Dhillon said he had "satsang commitments" outside Delhi on the hearing day, his wife Shabnam Dhillon cited a scheduled gastric surgery at a UK hospital on November 20, saying she needed to travel to the country on November 12.

Indicating his inability to be present in court, Gurinder Singh also said he's "senior citizen, diabetic and cancer patient". Dhillon's son Gurkeerat said he had to accompany his mother to the UK for the treatment. His elder son Gurpreet said he's in Singapore. Dhillon's daughter-in-law Nayan Tara Dhillon cited her four-year-old son's hip implant treatment for her inability to be present in the court.

Interestingly, RSSB's Satsang schedule on its website shows no Satsang has been planned on November 14. The Rudrapur Satsang, which begins on November 12, ends on November 13. The question now is whether there are already any lookout notices against the Dhillon family and other 55 garnishees. And whether the court would prevent any of them from travelling abroad -- fearing escape.

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

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. 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, and ordered them to pay up Rs 6,373 crore worth of dues to Singh brothers so that they could honour the $500 million order to pay Daiichi.

On March 12, BusinessToday.In reported that 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 was recovered. In his submission, Malvinder had maintained that he could pay Daiichi provided he recovered the money owed to him.

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

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 55 entities, including  Dhillon and RSSB associates' companies, including Prius Real Estate, Addon Realty, Payne Realtors SGGD Projects, Luminous Holding.

BusinessToday.In had also reported the flow of money that went from Singh brothers to entities owned and controlled by Gurinder Singh Dhillon, his family and RSSB associates. RoC filings and terms sheets had revealed that 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).

And here's an Economic Times story.

Radha Soami Satsang chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon along with his family members have cited various reasons seeking exemption from appearing before the Delhi High court on November 14.

The Dhillons in their Interim applications (IAs) filed before the court expressed their inability to appear before the court on the next date of hearing. While RSSB chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon has said that he has satsang commitments outside Delhi on that date and also he is a senior citizen, diabetic and cancer patient, hence he will be unable to appear before the court.

His wife, Shabnam Dhillon has said that she cannot appear due to a scheduled surgery in a hospital in UK on November 20 for which she needs to travel on November 12. Their son Gurkirat has said that he has to accompany his mother for the treatment.

While their second son Gurpreet Dhillon has expressed that he is in Singapore and has “critical work commitments” and is required to be personally present. His wife Nayan Tara on the other hand said that she cannot appear due to her four year old son’s medical condition, which needs "continuous care and attention”.

The court had in October ordered Dhillon along with his wife Shabnam, sons Gurkirat and Gurpreet and daughter in law Nayan Tara to personally present in the court on November 14, after Dhillon and his family members had said that they did not owe any money to RHC Holding Pvt Ltd, promoted by Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, 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 Sankyo against former RanbaxyNSE 5.63 % promoters.

In his plea Dhillon had told the court that RHC Holding has made false claims and they did not owe any money to RHC Holdings Pvt Ltd. The court in its order then asked the Dhillons to “remain present in the court with relevant documents related to their dealings and transactions with the garnishees and their related companies.

The Dhillons 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 laboratories.

The court while hearing the applications on Friday asked the garnishees to furnish their documents before the court. The requirement to appear before the court still looms as the court will take up the matter on November 14.

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.

Leave a comment on this post if you want to share your opinion about the Dhillon family excuses for not being able to come to the November 14 court hearing. These are my takes on the excuses.

Gurinder Singh Dhillon. RSSB satsang schedule shows no meetings on the 14th. And somehow the senior citizen guru can travel all over the world giving talks to RSSB devotees, but is unable to go to a court appearance in Delhi. Highly unbelievable. 

Shabnam Dhillon. The guru's wife just realizes she has surgery scheduled for November 20 in the UK that she has to leave eight days early for. Must take days to check into the clinic or hospital. Highly unbelievable. 

Gurpreet Dhillon. The guru's son has "critical work commitments." However, the November 14 court appearance has been scheduled for quite a while, over a month I recall. Somehow Gurpreet can't do his critical work either before or after the 14th? Highly unbelievable.

Naya Tara Dhillon. I accept that her child has a medical condition. But I can't believe that a wealthy Indian family can't find anyone to care for the child during the short time needed to attend a court hearing. Highly unbelievable.

UPDATE: A commenter sent a link to a Times of India story that appeared in a newsreader. I wasn't able to find the story on the Times of India web site, but here's screenshots of the link. Looks like Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family don't have to attend the November 14 hearing, though they have to provide documents and be available by phone.

An Economic Times story discusses the failed family settlement with the RSSB guru

Yesterday India's The Economic Times ran a story that restated facts that were already known about the attempt to reach a family settlement agreement between the Singh brothers (Malvinder and Shivinder) and their relative, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas.
Download Shivinder singh : Singh bros' settlement sought to absolve Dera Chief of liabilities

It's a good summary of what went on. 

I suppose the story was published to provide some background prior to November 14, when reportedly the Singh brothers, Dhillon, and others involved in this complicated financial fraud saga will appear before the High Court of Delhi following an investigation by Indian authorities.

You'll read in the story that the proposed family settlement, which Malvinder refused to sign, would have absolved the guru of any liability raised by an government authority. So that must have been a concern back in the spring of 2018.

Singh bros' settlement sought to absolve Dera Chief of liabilities

Singh brothers undertook that they will "indemnify" the Dhillon family in the event of a liability.

Raghav Ohri

New Delhi: The Singh brothers of Ranbaxy had locked horns over a 'family settlement' that sought to absolve their 'Master' - Gurinder Singh Dhillon, head of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), and his family members of all of all the amount they allegedly owed to RHC.

Malvinder has placed before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) emails to establish that while he had protested against the settlement, Shivinder had not only agreed to relieve the Dhillons of all their liabilities, but also pressurised Malvinder to sign the deal.

A 'memorandum of family settlement' drawn on May 25 last year read that it was “not based on actual valuation of the assets and loans but had been arrived to preserve and maintain mutual respect, goodwill and harmony, and to avoid any future disputes between the parties”.

It read that Shivinder and Malvinder had assured the Dhillon family that they have “irrevocably and unconditionally released and forever discharged them from all past, present or future claims, obligations and liabilities in connection with payment of 10 loans”. It added that the Singh brothers undertook that they will “indemnify” the Dhillon family in “event of any liability raised by any government authority”.

Malvinder claimed that the objective of the settlement was to relieve the Dhillons from the RHC dues. He submitted Shivinder’s emails dated June 2, 2018 and June 19, 2018 to prove that Shivinder had promptly agreed to the settlement to appease Dhillon so that he could succeed him as the Dera chief.

Malvinder has produced an email dated July 12, 2018 written to Dhillon to show that he had objected to the settlement, and sought details of assets of Dhillon and his family to repay the creditors. In his email, he had sought Dhillon’s intervention to “come out of the critical life-threatening issues” being faced by them.

Referring to several criminal actions and liabilities of over Rs 10,000 crore towards RHC, Malvinder wrote, “Given the current situation where we have lost almost all our businesses/assets and are at risk of losing everything that we own due to various personal guarantees, etc, we are not in a position to repay all our existing liabilities. Today our survival is completely dependent upon support from you, and if there is any chance of our being able to come out of this mess, it will be only with your blessings and support.

Malvinder had stressed on the need for the details of assets to satisfactorily “resolve the outstanding financial matters between us (which is very important and critical from regulatory as well as legal perspectives)”. “In order to satisfy the regulatory scheinvestigations and our lenders and creditors, we need full details of utilisation of funds borrowed from private companies and assets acquired therefrom,” he wrote.

“This will be needed to satisfy the authorities and creditors that no funds have been siphoned off and all such funds have been legitimately deployed at your end. We will need details of all assets held by you, family members, entities under your control or influence to kill any allegations of siphoning off. We utilise the following assets which can be made immediately available to resolve some of the issues, including surplus from the sale of LRD assets, Westend and Chandigarh properties, Parklane property, Singapore property, Chhatarpur farmhouses, add-on recoverable, SRL shares held by Logos, and any other asset that could be made available in India or abroad,” the email read.

Malvinder added that the mode of the “utilisation and priority thereof be agreed jointly by all of us keeping in view the spirit of working jointly and resolving the most critical issues on priority”. He sought to settle and close all inter-group outstanding loans by acquiring the assets as part of a settlement document.

“The said document needs to capture that apart from above assets, there are no other assets held by you and your family directly and indirectly, and in case any other assets which may have been acquired from the funds borrowed from private companies are made available, the same shall be acquired by private companies in settlement of the dues. All of these are necessary in order to close the existing loans in the books from accounting and regulatory perspectives,” Malvinder wrote.

Earlier this month, the RSSB chief had told the Delhi HC that he and his family owe RHC Holdings no money at all. In the July l2 email, Malvinder sought repayment of LVB Bank dues worth Rs 750 crore to avoid criminal cases, Fortis ICDs (Rs 450 crore), dues to Indiabulls to avoid cheque bouncing cases — worth around Rs 200 crore (negotiated down from Rs 400 crore), repayments to Zee and SSG to keep LRD assets and group reputation intact (Rs 300 crore), dignity and add-on dues to Fortis of around Rs 50 crore. Put together, it came to Rs 1,750 crore.

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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.  

Don't look within for inner peace. Look without.

This Pearls Before Swine comic humorously sums up my evolving approach to meditation. Which, as you can read below, also is the approach favored by my new favorite mindfulness teacher, Amit Sood, M.D.


Now, actually I'm more of a blend of Rat and Pig. I still enjoy closed-eyed meditation, but I no longer am devoted to what the spiritual organization I belonged to for 35 years, Radha Soami Satsang Beas, referred to as "going within."

That notion was based on religious assumptions I've come to reject.

Namely, that supernatural realms of reality exist, and it is possible to experience them through meditation aimed at bringing every bit of conscious attention away from one's body and the outside world through concentration on what lies within one's head.

I have no problem with focusing attention on what lies within -- thoughts, emotions, imaginings, visions, inner speech, and such -- but this is a one-sided approach to meditation and mindfulness. 

At its worst, and I experienced this during my time as an active member of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, avid devotees of "going within" can become seriously damaged psychologically. They lose interest in work, family, and other normal human pursuits, having become fanatically committed to detaching from the world and entering imagined non-physical domains of existence.

Not good. Meditation should make us a better person, not a worse one. If we aren't becoming a more loving, caring, and compassionate friend, relative, spouse, employee, volunteer, or parent, meditation isn't working for us.

After all, what makes us feel better when we're listless, lacking energy, down in the dumps, sad? (1) Sitting by ourselves in a room with eyes closed, focused on the contents of our mind, or (2) Getting out and doing something like walking in nature, talking with friends, patting our dog or cat?

I don't know about you, but I find #2 much more appealing.

Here's some quotes from Amit Sood's book, Mindfulness Redesigned for the Twenty-First Century, along these lines. I shared Sood's seven tenets in my previous post. The third tenet is: Intentional attention, external or internal, engages the same brain network. Focus your meditation on the world if you struggle with the mind.

In the third tenet, we explored ways to develop meditative attention by cultivating curiosity and focusing on meaning in the outside world. This helps us with engagement and flow.

These externally oriented practices are not only easier but also more effective than trying to see the light in an inwardly focused meditative stance.

The pursuit also makes you a more engaged spouse, parent, employee, and citizen. Attention so strengthened loses its rigidity, It becomes supple and flexible. Flexibility gives you freedom. In most situations, flexibility is a sign of health.

...An important aspect of the brain is that thinking about an activity engages similar brain areas to those engaged in actually practicing the activity. Thus research shows that imagining playing piano or violin or imagining dancing can help you improve your piano, violin, or dance performance.

When I read all this research, I speculated that the same networks should be engaged whether you focus externally or internally (playing piano versus thinking about playing piano). Thus meditation with eyes closed (internally directed) or eyes open (externally directed) should engage the same or similar parts of the brain. I was excited to see that an interesting study supported precisely this speculation.

In this study, investigators evaluated which brain areas activate based on two variables: external versus internal focus, and intense versus low-grade attention. Researchers found that the intensity of focus had much greater effect on the activation than did the direction of focus.

Thus, very similar areas were activated when the participants were intensely focusing, whether looking out at an object externally or thinking about the details of the object internally. An additional research team has recently corroborated these findings.

Realizing this has freed me. I meet so many colleagues who find the internally focused meditation practice very difficult. I have similarly struggled with sitting meditation. I feel comfortable now in suggesting externally focused meditation, in which you experience your world with full attention.

Because from the brain's perspective it doesn't matter whether you are focusing externally or internally. Therefore, in addition to or in lieu of sitting with the eyes closed, you could meditate immersed in the world, with your eyes open. It will activate the same or similar areas of the brain.

Since we spend most of the day in the world and not sitting on a cushion, we could get ten thousand hours of training (which some but not all experts suggest is needed to become really good at anything) in just a few years.

The third tenet builds on intentionality and emerging research, offering you a different way to meditate: instead of meditating with eyes closes, you meditate with eyes open by intentionally projecting your attention externally. 

...A few thousand years ago, when our threats were mostly external, training attention would have meant pushing it toward the depths of the mind, the basis of most meditation practices. A lot has changed since then, such that the definition of escape isn't escaping into the mind but escaping from the mind.

Ten reasons why Radha Soami Satsang Beas is a cult

For 35 years I was a member of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), a religious organization with headquarters in India. Back then I believed that RSSB taught a semi-scientific approach of uniting one's personal consciousness, soul, with universal consciousness, God. 

But now that I've been able to look upon RSSB more objectively, I view it as a cult. Here's how a knowledgeable person defined a cult. I've boldfaced certain parts for emphasis.

Psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, who once taught at Harvard Medical School, wrote a paper titled Cult Formation in the early 1980s. He delineated three primary characteristics, which are the most common features shared by destructive cults.

1. A charismatic leader, who increasingly becomes an object of worship as the general principles that may have originally sustained the group lose power. That is a living leader, who has no meaningful accountability and becomes the single most defining element of the group and its source of power and authority.

2. A process [of indoctrination or education is in use that can be seen as coercive persuasion or thought reform [commonly called "brainwashing"].

The culmination of this process can be seen by members of the group often doing things that are not in their own best interest, but consistently in the best interest of the group and its leader.

Lifton's seminal book Thought Reform and Psychology of Totalism explains this process in considerable detail.

3. Economic, sexual, and other exploitation of group members by the leader and the ruling coterie.

So based on my extensive personal experience with Radha Soami Satsang Beas, which encompasses many communications with people associated with RSSB, including the current guru of the organization, here's ten reasons why RSSB is a cult.

(1) The guru is viewed by the RSSB teachings as God in Human Form. As a supposed Perfect Living Master, the guru is considered to be infallible. His commands are to be carried out without question.

(2) Volunteer service to the guru, or seva, is viewed as highly important. RSSB devotees commit vast amounts of time, energy, and money to the organization, which operates as a strict top-down hierarchy. 

(3) Doubts about the RSSB teachings are strongly discouraged. Thinking for oneself is a no-no, as the human mind is considered  to be the agent of a negative power, much as the Devil is viewed in Christianity.

(4) The current RSSB guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, has garnered hundreds of millions of dollars for himself and his family through shady financial transactions orchestrated by his close associates, some of whom are being investigated by authorities in India.

(5) Dhillon has been accused of making death threats through RSSB devotees who do his bidding.

(6) There is no independent board or other entity that serves as a check on the RSSB guru's power. The group's finances are largely a secret, though RSSB owns expensive properties all around the world, including private residences for the guru.

(7) Credible reports show that RSSB has allowed volunteers to act violently toward someone who attended a meeting of the group, and the guru has ignored sexual harassment at the RSSB headquarters.

(8) Most RSSB devotees consider that the guru can do no wrong, even in the face of evidence that he has indeed acted wrongly.

(9) The RSSB guru enjoys a lavish lifestyle while preaching that the central purpose of human life is to return to God, not make huge amounts of money.

(10) Well-off people, political leaders, and RSSB insiders receive favored treatment at gatherings of the organization, while ordinary Indians receive second-class treatment.

There are more reasons why RSSB is a cult, so feel free to share your own in a comment, if you're familiar with this group. For example, the current RSSB guru forbids people to photograph him without his consent, and has issued an edict against taking notes at his talks.

Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the RSSB guru

Shocking tale of a punch in the face at a RSSB meeting

Here's Part 2 of Osho Robbins' (not his real name) tale of what happened to him at a meeting of Radha Soami Satsang Beas devotees at the RSSB Haynes Park center in England.

Part 1 can be read in "Osho Robbins' 'Crime of the Century' at a RSSB Haynes Park satsang."

Part 2 is long, so you'll need to click on the continuation link to read the full account. Here's some definitions of a few words Robbins uses in his report. "Satsang" is a spiritual talk. "Baba Ji" refers to the RSSB guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon. "Sevadar" is a volunteer.

I'm sharing this story because it illustrates the hypocrisy and narrow-mindedness of religious people, whether of the East or West. When volunteer devotees act much worse than ordinary human beings, and apparently no higher-ups care about their bad behavior, this reflects badly on their religious organization -- in this case Radha Soami Satsang Beas.

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17 August 2019 Haynes Park
Seven sevadars attack one satsangi,
completely unprovoked and without reason

This account from Saturday 17^th August 2019, describes how I was peacefully walking towards the exit of Haynes Park to leave, and was stopped and held by seven people and dragged to a private spot and then intimidated and punched in the face and then later pushed into the back of a pitch black van to intimidate me further. Further threats were also made.

You can make up your own mind as to whether the actions of those seven people were reasonable. What I can guarantee is that this account is accurate. Furthermore I have no reason to lie because I am not seeking any specific outcome. I am simply presenting the facts of what happened. Beyond that it is not of my concern. I don’t even care about being “re-instated.”

So, I got banned from satsang. How the heck did that happen?

Oh yes, now I remember: it was because I took a mobile phone into satsang and recorded 5 minutes of an English speaker.

But wait a minute… LOTS of people do much much much more than that.

A quick search on YouTube shows there are MANY satsangs / Q&A of BabaJi already online. I stopped counting at 200. Clearly its not a big issue, otherwise RSSB would have done something about it.

Here’s a few examples: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPsz5Z2JvpA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXX6t1F9ZBA&t=113s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2E86eQPNwU

Now contrast this with what the sevadars did:

1. Took my phone, lied about where it was, refused to return it for approx. 5 hours. 
2. Sent a lower sevadar to officially take responsibility for it – if it got lost.
3. Fabricated a story about me threating to “kick a sevadar in the nuts” : something I can prove 100% to be a lie because it’s simply out of character.
4. Forced another sevadar to lie 
5. Banned me without authority because it was based on a lie.

Now I know that sevadars are not perfect, but give me a break.

We’re not talking about perfect here. 

We’re talking about NORMAL, DECENT human beings.

If this is the result of following RSSB for maybe 30+ years, then clearly it’s not working.

“By their fruits Ye shall know them.” Says the Bible. 

But no matter…  Let’s carry on…because the show must go on…

Now we get onto Day 2: the Saturday satsang. There was simply no way the ban was real as it was based on a lie. I also did not think that the person who banned me had any authority to ban me. He also gave me nothing in writing, giving me even more reason to question its validity.

And to add to it all, I had a dream that night. In the dream, I was on the mic, and it was a Q&A session, and BabaJi was saying “Absolutely, the master loves every disciple like his own child.”

I can only guess, my subconscious mind created the dream from the words of the old satsangi I had met that day who had moved me to tears by saying “Does anyone ever forget his own son?” when I had asked him if he recognised me.

Anyway, I took that to mean that BabaJi wants me to attend satsang that day and if he wants me to attend, who am I to fight against that? I am not saying it was some inner revelation – just what I took the dream to mean.

So I decided I would attend satsang that day (Saturday). nThis time I took my own car because I did not want to inconvenience anyone else. I drove into Haynes Park and nobody paid any special attention to me. So clearly I was not banned, because if I was banned, at least some sevadar would have recognized me. 

If I was banned, they would all have a photo of me. So I parked up and walked to the satsang tent. Once again, nobody paid any special attention to me. Even more evidence the ban was a lie.

As I walked along, I saw the same guy who I had met the previous day: Sevadar #2. The one with the short term memory problem. This time he did not ask me “do you know who I am?” so his memory may have improved. A good sign I guess.

He asked me to step to the side of the main walkway, but after the previous day’s experience, I decided to ignore his request. After all, it was only a request, and it was a free country.

I said “No thank you. I am going to attend satsang. I have no mobile phone with me. You can check.”

Then something happened that frankly shocked me.

He started physically pulling me to the side, by grabbing my arm. This was uncalled for.

“Please let go of me, this is assault” I said as I tried to get free of his grip.

Next thing I know, another guy grabs my other arm. 

Now I was getting a little concerned as this was not normal behaviour. If they had an issue, all they had to do was get one guy to watch where I sit and phone the police to get me removed. That would be the legal and proper procedure to follow. Physically grabbing me was going beyond the call of duty.

“Let go of me, and I will leave” I said. Still they held onto me as if I was some criminal, which I guess in their mind I was.

Osho Robbins' "Crime of the Century" at a RSSB Haynes Park satsang

Following is a report Osho Robbins sent to me of what happened after he used his phone to record five minutes of audio at a meeting of Radha Soami Satsang Beas in RSSB's Haynes Park center in England.

It's long, so you'll need to click on the continuation link to read the full tale. Here's some definitions of a few words Robbins uses in his report. "Satsang" is a spiritual talk. "Baba Ji" refers to the RSSB guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon. "Sevadar" is a volunteer. "Seva" means volunteer service.

What I find most interesting about this saga is how it illustrates the dangers of religious rigidity and dogmatism. The problem with Robbins using his phone to record part of a talk could have been handled smoothly in a few minutes if the Radha Soami Satsang Beas volunteers had acted like normal human beings rather than religious robots.

Instead, their fanaticism led them to believe that a rule against audio recordings was an edict from God, since the RSSB guru is believed by devotees to be God in Human Form. So RSSB volunteers (sevadars) often become irrationally fanatic about carrying out their assigned tasks.

As weird as this may sound to non-religious people, it's much as if Jesus returned to Earth and asked some devout Christians to serve him in certain ways. Is there any doubt that they'd obey with gusto, viewing this as service to God?

The downside, of course, is that since it's virtually certain God doesn't exist, bad things are done in the name of religion for purely human reasons. As you will read below, the RSSB volunteers Robbins encountered were willing to lie, cheat, and steal in the name of service to their guru.

This makes it wholly believable that other volunteer sevadars were willing to do even nastier stuff, as has been alleged by two people who claim that associates of the RSSB guru made death threats against them (see here and here). Thus I find what happened to Osho Robbins consistent with the attitude of a disturbingly large number of RSSB devotees.

Whatever I'm asked to do, if the order comes from the guru, or flows from the guru's directives, I'll do it, whether or not I have to act unethically or wrongly.

Read on...

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"Crime of the Century"

Osho Robbins caught red handed recording 5 minutes of satsang of the English speaker before the Q&A session. Charged with two offences: bringing phone into the tent and recording 5 minutes of audio. Case heard informally and further evidence fabricated to add another offence: threatening to kick a sevadar in the “nuts”.

Result: made to wait 3+ hours for his phone to be returned

Sentence: Unlimited Ban from ALL satsangs worldwide until further notice.

It’s an ordinary Friday morning at Haynes Park. It's the start of the National satsang programme. Osho Robbins is about to discover what happens when you “break the rules” at RSSB. 

It started with a crime - that Osho Robbins committed. Let's call it "The Crime of the Century".

He recorded the english speaker before Baba Ji's satsang for 5 minutes.

Well technically it was two crimes:
1. Taking the phone in to the satsang hall (many do it - but it's against the rules)
2. Recording the English speaker for 5 minutes. Not sure why this was an issue as it was not even Baba Ji’s voice that was recorded

A quick perusal of You Tube will show that  Baba Ji’s satsangs have not only been previously recorded by others but also been uploaded onto You Tube. So this was really a “non-offence” compared to the actions of those who uploaded all those audios of the satsangs.

Let's start at the beginning.

Osho Robbins arrived for the Friday satsang. He went to the back of the tent. Mobile phones are not allowed, but no big deal is made of the matter and there are no sevadars searching or even caring if anyone takes their phone in. 

There must literally be hundreds of them in the tent. Not a single person asked Osho Robbins if he had a phone on his person.

Osho Robbins had his mobile phone with him, turned into airplane mode. The purpose was to be able to stay in contact with various people at the end of the satsang.

As it happens, the English speaker was saying some interesting things, so Osho Robbins decided to press the “record” button, not knowing that all hell was about to break loose.

So pause for a moment and use a little logic.

What is so horrendous about that? He decided to record it so he could listen back to it later. How exactly is that going to be a problem for anyone else on the planet? 

Seriously, why would it be anyone’s concern? Did anyone get hurt? Is it a security risk? It's not even the voice of Baba Ji, but the speaker before the satsang, and it's for his own private listening after the satsang. By no stretch of the imagination can this be considered a major issue.

Yes, technically “the rules” were broken – but no harm was done to anyone. As you will see later, the sevadars will commit much bigger crimes as the events unfold. To name a few: 

Lying, deceit, forcing another sevadar to lie, stealing the phone and illegally keeping hold of it for approximately 5 hours.

As Osho Robbins was recording, the phone fell on the floor and a sevadar pounced on him, "Ah - you have a mobile phone”. He asked Osho Robbins to step outside the tent while he went to get “backup". 

So Osho Robbins stepped outside. What happened next was more like what you might see in a movie, than in a spiritual satsang. The sevadars seem to think it was a major crime to break the rules. Osho Robbins said "I will delete the files in front of you".

"No - give us the phone and WE will delete them, we have to make sure we delete them all."

Saying that, they snatched the phone from Osho Robbins and deleted the files. Not satisfied, they wanted to know if the files had been uploaded to the cloud.

"What cloud?" Osho Robbins asked, wondering why they are taking things so far over 5 minutes of audio recording that was not even of Baba Ji. They checked and decided it had not been uploaded, but kept hold of the phone, despite Osho Robbins asking for his phone back.

By then a more senior sevadar turned up and asked the classic question:  "Do you know who I am?" Osho Robbins replied quite honestly, "I have no idea."

Obviously the "sevadar" had delusions of grandeur, the exact opposite of what seva should be about. And he obviously had a short-term memory problem, and kept forgetting his own name, hence the question, "Do YOU perhaps know who I am?"

Osho Robbins resisted the temptation to tell him "You are the ONE" or "Best to ask Baba Ji”.

The sevadar handed the phone to the senior sevadar. For clarity, we will call this senior sevadar, sevadar #2. Remember this is the one with delusions of grandeur who keeps forgetting “Who he is”.

Osho Robbins calmly asked for his phone back.

The ego-filled sevadar #2 refused to return the phone, saying it would go to the "IT Dept" to get checked. and be returned at the end of the satsang. This was ridiculous behaviour and also illegal. There was no audio of Baba Ji so why the big drama? 

Osho Robbins explained that he was there with his cousin who also had a child with him as well as his wife. And since he did not want to waste their time, he (Osho Robbins) would leave Haynes Park immediately if that is what it would take to get his phone back.

For some reason the sevadar #2 would not agree to this reasonable request. That would have been the most reasonable way to resolve the matter.

"It's my personal property. I would like it back now please and if you want me to leave, I will leave Haynes Park immediately." said Osho Robbins, clarifying his position.

"You will get it back after the satsang." insisted the sevadar with delusions of grandeur.

"No - I want my phone back now, please" insisted Osho Robbins "and I will leave Haynes Park. It's my property and you have no legal basis to keep it or tamper with it”.

There was no raising of voices, no threats by anyone. However, Osho Robbins was simply firm in his request to be given his phone back, which was a very reasonable request, especially as he was offering to leave the site and wait outside Haynes Park. 

"I do have the right to retain your phone" replied the sevadar, "You broke the rules and recorded the satsang and now your phone will be examined”.

It is indeed unfortunate that Osho Robbins had to resort to the legal position to ask for his legal rights to be upheld, but it seemed there was no other alternative. The sevadar #2 clearly had no respect for his legal rights.

The sevadar #2 put the phone in his pocket and now the lies began.

RSSB volunteers punch someone in the face at Haynes Park

Hypocrisy is rampant in every religion. When love is preached from the pulpit, hate often is in the minds of believers. When humility is set forth as a virtue, egotism frequently is on actual display.

Here's an example from Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), an Indian religious organization led by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years before I saw the light and deconverted.

What follows is the tale of a frequent commenter on this blog, Osho Robbins. He's a bit of an iconoclast, since he enjoys going to RSSB meetings, including those where the current RSSB guru (Gurinder Singh Dhillon) is speaking, where sometimes Robbins engages the guru in a spirited question and answer session.

But Robbins doesn't subscribe to the traditional RSSB teachings. At any rate, recently he went to the RSSB center in England, Haynes Park, where he was treated in a decidedly un-loving fashion by a bunch of RSSB volunteers, or sevadars. 

In fact, he got punched in the face by one of them, as you can read below. 

What I find interesting about Robbins' Haynes Park adventure is what it says about Radha Soami Satsang Beas. Where did these volunteers/sevadars get the idea that it was OK to act like jerks? From higher-up in the organization, of course. 

The RSSB guru has been accused of making death threats, either directly or through RSSB associates, not once, but twice (see here and here). So I guess punching someone in the face is mild, by comparison. Still, this episode makes me glad I'm no longer involved with RSSB.

Robbins alludes to the fact that devotees of the RSSB guru are absurdly attached to their seva, volunteer work.

Because the guru is considered to be God in human form by the RSSB teachings, service to the guru is viewed as service to God. So members of RSSB take great pride in being allowed to perform volunteer work, often becoming inordinately rigid and dogmatic about their assigned task.

Here's three recent comments from Osho Robbins. I've separated them by dashes. "Baba Ji" refers to the RSSB guru. "Satsang" is a spiritual talk.

BIG news coming up about Haynes Park satsang. I attended Friday and Saturday. In two days I managed to hear exactly zero minutes of Baba Ji's words.

On the Friday it was because certain sevadars took my phone and refused to return it.  I specifically said "I wish to leave Haynes Park immediately and would like my property returned to me immediately."

They said I could have it after the satsang. I explained that I am not staying, but am leaving immediately. Still they refused. So I said I would calk the police as this was theft of my phone.

I did in fact call the police exactly as promised. The police explained to them that they have no right to hold onto my phone without my permission.

Anyway, finally got my phone back at 3pm and was told that I am "banned" from Haynes Park and all satsangs. As far as I know, nobody is banned from attending public satsangs. But I guess there is always going to be a first.

Oh I forgot to mention the most important part. I did take the phone into the tent despite the notices. Guilty as charged.

I did also record about 5 minutes of the English speaker who did the satsang before the Q&A.  Because he seemed to say some interesting things. Once again, guilty as charged.

Two major crimes that gave the sevadars permission, in their mind, to keep hold of my phone despite my request to have my phone back as I wish to leave Haynes.

One sevadar was forced to tell a lie in order to keep his seva. The sevadars don't care about what is "legal". They have their own rules that are above the law. Why? Because they said so.

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The sevadar who originally “clocked me” was asked what happened.

Now the thing was, I’d spoken to him while I was waiting for my phone and he was an okay guy. In fact he started feeling bad for taking the phone and wished he hadn’t. He was very fearful of losing his seva.

So when asked to say what had happened, I was surprised when he said  “I don’t want to say it.... “ I naturally asked “ what exactly don’t you want to say, just say it.”

He then said that I had threatened to “kick him in the nuts”.

Not a phrase I would ever use. Naturally I denied it. The sevadar then said “I would rather believe my sevadar than you”.

Of course it was just too obvious what was going on. I had seen the sevadar have a meeting with this higher up sevadar just a few minutes earlier. So he had obviously told him to tell this lie when asked if he wishes to keep his seva.

So that sevadar said it hesitatingly because he was clearly having a conflict about if he should lie in order to save his seva.

If it was me, I would have simply spoken the truth and handed the sevadar my badge and walked away with a clear conscience. To me, that would be the only course of action possible. But that’s because I would not be desperate to keep my seva.

Someone who is desperate to keep his seva can be bribed. Of course if I was desperate, I too could be bribed.

So the sevadar lied to save his seva, and that was predictable and there was a brief moment when he could break out, that would change his life. Stand for truth instead of lying.

It’s not “wrong” as such. He only did what he was programmed to do. Neither is the higher up sevadar “wrong” as he too was only doing what he was programmed to do.

Liars lie. Thieves steal. It’s the way their life has programmed them. So even in the midst of all this happening against me I am saying it was all inevitable and unavoidable. Each person is acting according to the way they are programmed including me.

So all this was all happening perfectly, despite the fact that at that moment it was not in my favour.

Or was it? It was only against me if I am desperate to step this “calamity” from happening

But it’s seriously not a calamity. I was actually quite happy watching all this unfold. It was entertaining watching how it all happens. Only if I have no agenda. In this case I have no agenda, because I don’t care in the slightest about being “banned” as such.

I can’t be hurt by banning me. The sevadar picked on the wrong guy. I just find the whole thing entertaining. Gives me something to write about.

Of course I am not going to “stay banned”. I am going to test this to see what happens next. I am going to see how far this corruption at the top goes.

Obviously the higher up sevadar has a hold on the lower down sevadar that enables him to force him to lie. So the lower sevadar chose that path because he was desperate to save his seva.

There is no free will here. Nobody can break free unless he stops caring to save his seva. The higher up sevadar is just as bound because he wants me to be banned at any cost. Each is doing whatever they are doing to get the outcome they want.

Drop the outcome and it becomes a game. That’s why I found the whole thing entertaining and laughable. Including “me”. I am also part of the entertainment. If I stop, the entertainment stops.

That too is an option. I can stay banned. I am not desperate to go to satsang. My spiritual future is not in satsang. If it was I would be begging him not to ban me.

And that is what is getting to that sevadar. He wants power over everyone. He has it over the Sevadars because they want their seva. He thinks he got “a result”. But he has no idea what that result is yet. Neither do I.

That’s the only thing that makes it worth playing. Because in reality nobody including me is doing anything here of any real significance. It’s all a divine joke that we all take our personal agenda so seriously.

As I walked away from Haynes Park, I was with my cousin. He had patiently waited two hours after satsang for me. I had made it clear to the sevadars that I had a lift with someone to come to Haynes and he has a child with him. I don’t want to put him out.

They probably thought I was lying. But I wasn’t. I have told the truth from beginning to end. I have no reason to lie. I confessed my “big sin” openly from the start. I lied about nothing.

That’s what gives this whole thing credence. I have no agenda that would make me lie. I won’t lie for any outcome because I am not desperate for any outcome.

Am I bothered about “being banned”? Not in the slightest. Just as I had no care in the world when I was banned as a speaker,

My cousin asked me if I was upset about being banned from satsang. “Upset? Do I look upset?” I am about as upset as when I was banned from being a speaker.

In fact I will be the only person who has been banned from both giving satsang and attending satsang.

This “satsang” thing clearly “has it in for me” or so it seems. I hope you all find it as entertaining as I do. Because it’s about to be upped up a notch. I don’t let sleeping dogs lie.

I like a little entertainment. Hey maybe the baba is doing exactly the same, just a thought.

Stay tuned as the next episode unfolds. This was Friday. Saturday was a whole new day with a whole new adventure. Just like every episode of batman I watched as a child ( the one with Adam playing Batman).

“ Tune in tomorrow to see what happens. Same bat-time same bat-channel”. But don’t take it literally as “tomorrow” and call me a liar when it doesn’t happen tomorrow.

Till next time,. Over and out from “The ONE”.

-------------------------

The full story is coming soon. It gets much much more interesting. Ends up in premeditated assault. Instigated by the sevadars.

And when I am saying I want to leave Haynes Park, six people grab me physically and take me where nobody can see and physically assault me by punching me in the face.

They think nobody will find out but don’t realise the power of truth. I am known by many of the old satsangis. I don’t tell lies. If I say it - it’s the truth regardless of if it works against me. And people who know me know this

I am not a violent person. Okay I did accept anami’s challenge to combat in jest . That’s about the extent of any violence in me. Whereas the sevadars in question might have a history of violence, who knows.

The matter will go all the way to the top to the guru himself. I have more than enough support to do this from satsangis who know me and my father and family.

Don’t forget, my father was one of the early uk satsangis from 1963.

-------------------------
UPDATE: New comments from Osho Robbins. "Hukam" means divine order or command.

RSSB is meant to be a spiritual organisation and is also called Science of the Soul. I for one have always seen it that way right up to this incident.

Last Sunday, before the national satsang, Babaji said to me in the Q&A that everything always happens “in hukam” and I agree.

This too is in hukam. Nothing happens outside of hukam. Not even this. It was hukam that I get punched in the face. Obviously “The ONENESS” wants to stir things up for me. The Oneness is welcome. Let’s see what unfolds.

-------------------------

There was zero resistance and zero retaliation from me during the entire two day episode. When the punching in the face incident happened I was on the way leaving Haynes Park, and my brother in law saw me leaving.

But the volunteers in question stopped me from leaving and then carried out the premeditated attack.

If anything they will be shocked at my level of nonviolence because apart from asking them to let me go, there was no other resistance from me. Six or seven guys onto one defenceless member of the sangat.

There was no reason for the attack as I was on the way out of Haynes Park. Hardly a sign of great bravery to attack a defenceless person who already wants to leave.

Of course if questioned they may lie but I can prove my position, that I was already leaving. This was a totally unprovoked attack to show me that the sevadars in question had the power to ban me. “Egos on steroids” is all I can say.

Fortis files suit to get money that reportedly went into Dhillon family pockets

Today a commenter on this blog shared a link to a Business Standard story that can only be read in its entirety by subscribers.

But since it deals with a subject that's I've written about frequently -- the financial scandal involving the Singh brothers and their relative, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas -- I'm sharing a screenshot of the abbreviated story.

Scroll down for my take on it. Rs 520 crore is about $72 million, with Rs 403 crore being about $56 million.
This action by Fortis was anticipated back in May, as discussed in a LiveMint story, though the current amount Fortis wants to recover is higher now. 

The impact on the RSSB guru and the rest of the Dhillon family is unknown at this point.

What should concern them is that theyve been named as the ultimate beneficiaries of the money that flowed in a fraudulent fashion from Fortis into shell companies, then reportedly into the pockets of the Dhillon family.

Here's a flow chart from a Business Today story that shows this.

Though Fortis has filed a civil suit, if recovering the money that went into the shell companies, then apparently to the Dhillon family, results in evidence of wrongdoing by the Dhillon family and their associates, it seems there's a decent chance of criminal charges being filed at some point.

Osho Robbins talks with Gurinder Singh Dhillon

Osho Robbins is a frequent commenter on this blog who enjoys asking the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), Gurinder Singh Dhillon, probing questions.

Me, I'm not into gurus anymore. But I realize that many people who visit this blog are interested in what Dhillon has to say. So below is what Robbins shared in several email messages.

Since I was a member of RSSB for thirty-five years, I'm familiar with the organization's traditional teachings and books. Thus I was struck by a seeming contradiction in what Robbins says below.

On the one hand, Dhillon told Robbins that what's important is what the previous RSSB gurus said and what the scriptures say. On the other hand, Dhillon said the guru is only a guide and a teacher.

But that isn't what the traditional RSSB teachings proclaim, including the "scriptures" -- if that is taken to mean the books describing the teachings of the preceding gurus.

Those teachings say that the guru is greater than God, because the guru takes souls back to God, being God in Human Form. The radiant form of the guru (meaning, a supernatural form) guides the disciple through higher regions of reality all the way to Sach Khand, or "heaven."

So it seems to me that the current RSSB guru is trying to have it both ways.

He doesn't claim to be any sort of divine being, yet he refers people to the traditional RSSB teachings -- which DO say that the guru is divine. Even more, those teachings speak of the Perfect Living Master, Dhillon being the current occupant of that title.

I'd find Dhillon to be more believable if he simply said that the traditional teachings are wrong. Anyway, read on for the most recent interchange between Osho Robbins and the RSSB guru.

Today I went to Haynes Park. It’s a week before the national satsang. It was a great opportunity to openly discuss various points without being rushed. I had a very interesting dialogue that answers a lot of points raised by participants in the discussions at Churchless. 

 

Firstly, the notion that “He claims this and that” has to be quashed. If you all wish to validate a claim, ask the person directly, instead of conjecture. 

 

At one point, I said “but YOU say ..........” and he interrupted me. “No, it’s not what I say. I am nobody to say anything. Just see what the previous gurus said and what the scriptures say.”

 

He also said “Please, let’s be clear. I cannot erase your karmas, I cannot do anything for you. I can only guide you and the rest is up to you. The guru is only a guide and a teacher.”

 

Clearly he doesn’t claim to be a “perfect living master” with all the notions that go with that title. 

 

He is making his position clear. If anyone wants to project their beliefs and notions onto that, it’s okay as long as they realise they are making that contribution. It’s their notion, not his. 

 

He also spoke a lot about “going beyond good and bad” and that it has to be your own experience, not something you heard or read. 

 

So the conclusion from this is clear: GSD [Gurinder Singh Dhillon] claims to be a human being. His position is a guide and a teacher. He makes no other personal claims of grandiose. He claims no special powers. He doesn’t claim to be “God in Human Form”.

 

Of course anyone can project anything they choose. It’s a free world. However I am reporting what I heard first hand from the man himself. 

 

Regarding the issue of the money transactions. My view (and it’s just my view as I was not there) is that he is a human being. When did he ever say “I cannot do any wrong”?

 

Wrong and Right are human made up concepts. One society considers the same thing to be “wrong” that another society says is “right". One obvious example is “halal meat.” Sikhs specifically consider it “wrong”.

 

As a human being, if we happen to be in business, not everything is going to be above board. There is corruption inherent in all of society. Anyone who says there isn’t is living in an ideal world that doesn’t exist. 

 

We have a president with serious corruption allegations against him. Doesn’t make him an “evil” person. 

 

All this only becomes an issue if you first project the status of “perfection” onto the guru. And when he fails, he is now condemned for not being perfect. 

 

Reminds me of a conversation I had with David Lane in London long ago about Charan Singh in the video “Satguru”. 

He feels sleepy, probably jetlag, while giving darshan at Wembley. The sangat thinks “Wow, the Surat is being pulled up by the shabd”.

 

David said “He is just jet lagged and feels sleepy. I can’t lose my faith in him as I only consider him a human being”. First you project perfection onto a person then complain when he shows he is not “perfect”. Nobody is.

 

I also addressed the topic of the master coming at death

 

Me: You ask people to meditate but then take away the reward (guru coming at time of death) so now it becomes nishkaam because no reward.

 

GSD: Forget about me. The previous gurus and the scriptures say that the creator will come and take care of his souls, but will we recognise him?

 

Me: But no god can come because there is only the ONE.

 

GSD: Yes that is true, again its words. No god will come because he has already come. He is ever present. He doesn’t come and go. But at our level we cannot understand this, so scriptures and gurus use the language we understand. In reality no guru comes or goes, it’s a figure of speech.

 

Me: Kabir says, Jab hum hoti tab him nahin. So the meeting never happens. Either I am or god is, never together. No meeting

 

GSD:  Yes, that is true once you realise that it is all the play of the ONE. We don’t do anything, he is the doer. But at this level, and until we realise for ourselves, we continue to act

 

His perspective is that although the ONE is the truth, we have to start with where we are, otherwise we cannot understand.

 

Hence the reason he says “meditate” and also says the meditation is just to tire you out until you surrender. He says the meditation will not get you there, but do it without any desire for reward. Nishkaam.

 

Which is impossible to do because we always seek the reward. So it’s a method to take you beyond the ego. 

 

Osho Robbins

 

Gurinder Singh Dhillon

RSSB guru appears to have lied about his financial problems

A few days ago, in a blog post I shared a report of what Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas who has been accused of financial fraud and death threats, said in a talk in Petaluma, California recently.

This is part of what I was told:

A woman asked at the end of her questions, "Will you pay for your nephews 5 million" (something like that, I don't have a reference for that and I may not have heard clearly.) 

Baba Ji [the guru] said (as I heard it) "I have some money from my parents and have not taken anything else from anyone." Then he said my life is open (or something like that).

If Dhillon actually said that he has not taken any money from anyone but his parents, and I haven't seen anyone deny this who was at his Petaluma talk, then the RSSB guru lied to his devotees.

There's plenty of evidence to support this, as I shared in a comment where I replied to someone who said she believed what Dhillon said. 

Nancy, to put it bluntly, Gurinder Singh Dhillon lied at the Petaluma bhandara. He definitely has gotten money from sources other than his parents. Lots of it. Here's some links that prove me right, and the RSSB guru wrong. You're very trusting. Also, gullible.

Here's part of the truth about how Dhillon got so much money.

https://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2019/05/fortis-seeking-money-that-ended-up-with-the-dhillon-family.html

https://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2019/03/rssb-guru-owes-almost-800-million-in-fraudulent-loans.html

https://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2018/12/singh-brothers-get-into-fight-over-loans-to-rssb-guru-and-his-family.html

https://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2019/06/delhi-high-court-orders-recovery-of-money-from-rssb-guru-and-his-family.html

https://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2019/06/malvinder-singhs-message-to-the-rssb-guru-is-moving.html

https://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2018/08/bloomberg-story-shows-gurinder-singh-dhillons-shady-business-dealings.html

https://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2019/06/rssb-guru-identified-as-beneficiary-of-fraudulent-funds.html

https://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2010/12/radha-soami-satsang-beas-guru-makes-250-million.html

If anyone needs more convincing that the RSSB guru lied, read this June 11, 2019 Medical Dialogues story

New Delhi: Bringing in a third party, the Delhi High Court has directed Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family along with other 56 entities to pay the recovery amount owed by Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh (Singh Brothers) to Japanese firm Daiichi Sankyo. According to a recent media report, the court has also ordered to recover the dues from ex Religare chief Sunil Godhwani and brother Sanjay Godhwani, besides, RSSB chief and the Dhillon family including wife Shabnam Dhillon, sons Gurkirat and Gurpreet and daughter-in-law Nayan Tara Dhillon.

The order comes following Malvinder Singh compliance that he can only reimburse $500 million (Rs 3472 crore) arbitration order against them, provided he can recover the money owed to him by RSSB chief and family. Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the long dispute between the former Fortis Healthcare Ltd promoters, Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh had turned dramatic with allegations one after the other. Elder brother  Malvinder Singh had alleged that parts of the proceeds from the stake sale in Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd were used by the spiritual head of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Gurinder Singh Dhillon to purchase real estate.

Also Read: Malvinder Singh alleges spiritual guru invested Ranbaxy stake sale proceeds to buy real estate

The court is reportedly issuing ‘garnishee orders’ against several Dhillon and RSSB associates’ companies, including Prius Real Estate, Addon Realty, Payne Realtors SGGD Projects, Luminous Holding. A garnishee order is an order against a third party to recover money to settle a debt or dues. Garnishee order prevents these entities from alienating any assets. The dues will now be paid to Delhi high court instead of Singh brothers and their entities to whom it is owed.

With the present order issued on June 10, the court has increased the scope of people from whom the money owed by Singh brothers to Daiichi can be recovered to honour the arbitration award.

According to a report in Business Today, Daiichi has enforced an arbitration order in Singapore that directed the Singh brothers to shell out Daiichi $500 million towards alleged non-disclosure of crucial information during the sale of Ranbaxy Laboratories to Daiichi in 2008.

The flow of money from Singh brothers to entities were owned and controlled by RSSB chief, his family and associates. RoC filings and terms sheets say in a span of four years, Rs 1107.5 crore from the Rs 9,576 crore sale proceeds of Ranbaxy to Daiichi Sankyo was paid through RHC group firms RHC Holding Private Limited, Oscar Investment Limited, RHC Finance Private Limited and FHL into two group entities ANR Securities Private Limited and Ranchem Private Limited.

Afterwards, this money was transferred to Prius Real Estate Private Limited controlled by Dhillon family associates and RSSB functionaries through optionally convertible debentures (OCD). The money invested in other Prius group entities called Prius Commercial, Payne Realtors, SVIIT Software and Sharan Hospitality whose preference shares worth Rs 875.53 crore were subscribed to by Prius Real Estate. Both the OCDs and preference shares were to be redeemed between August-November, 2018 at a hefty premium, reports Business Today.

Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) is an organization dedicated to a process of inner development under the guidance of a spiritual teacher. 

Raids of Indian authorities circle closer to RSSB guru

Following up on my post earlier today about raids by the Enforcement Directorate, which enforces economic laws and fights economic crime in India,  a new story in the Indian financial press indicates that the raids are not only on Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, but on others.

One of those others is Sunil Godhwani, a close associate of Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas. Dhillon had Godhwani installed as the Managing Director and then Chairman of Religare, a company once controlled by the Singh brothers, who are related to the guru.

A criminal complaint filed by Malvinder alleges that Godhwani then conspired to fraudulently funnel money from Religare into the pockets of the RSSB guru, his family, and close associates. Separately, the new board of Religare filed a complaint with the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi police.

I shared a link to that complaint in "Family of RSSB guru at risk of charges of criminal conspiracy." That possibility looks more likely in light of today's Business Standard story that somebody shared a link to in a comment. Here's the start of the story.
Download ED raids multiple locations linked to ex-Religare promoters in PMLA case | Business Standard News

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday raided multiple premises linked to erstwhile Religare promoters, brothers Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh, and others in connection with a money laundering case, agency officials said.

They said the raids were conducted at seven locations in Delhi including those connected to the Singh brothers, ex-CMD of Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL) Sunil Godhwani, REL executives N K Ghoshal, Hemant Dhingra after an Enforcement Case Information Case (ECIR), the police equivalent of a case, was filed by the agency.

The ECIR has been filed under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after taking cognisance of a Delhi Police Economic Offences Wing (EOW) complaint filed in December last year.

REL's subsidiary Religare Finvest (RFL) had filed the complaint with the EoW, alleging fraud and misappropriation of funds to the tune ofRs740 crore and had named the Singh brothers and others.

On their part, the Singh brothers had blamed Godhwani for the troubles faced by the group.

Seemingly one of the questions Indian authorities are seeking answers to is why Godhwani funneled money to shell companies controlled at the time by members of the Dhillon family and their associates, which apparently then was used to buy real estate by the Dhillons.

See my March blog post, "RSSB insider Sunil Godhwani charged with criminal conspiracy." Here's the last paragraph of that post.

Thus it sure seems like the Dhillon family is facing some additional legal challenges. They were owners of shell companies mentioned in the Religare criminal conspiracy complaint as having participated in the fraud, and the Dhillons also were recipients of the fraudulently obtained money.

 

Singh brothers in more legal hot water. RSSB guru mentioned.

Thanks to those who have shared links to stories in the Indian financial press about new developments in the financial fraud involving Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, along with Gurinder Singh Dhillon,  the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, and the guru's close associate Sunil Godhwani.

Here's a Business Today story. They say it's a developing story, so it's short at the moment.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Thursday conducted raids at the residences of former Ranbaxy CEO Malvinder Singh and his brother Shivinder Singh. The probe agency carried out the searches in connection with a money-laundering case.

According to ED officials, the raids were conducted after a case was filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The move comes amid the charges of alleged financial irregularities against the Singh brothers and the subsequent downfall of their businesses.

NDTV has a longer story. Excerpts:

NEW DELHI: 

Malvinder Singh and his brother Shivinder Singh, ex-promoters of pharmaceutical giant Ranbaxy, were raided today by the Enforcement Directorate in a Rs. 740-crore fraud case. 

"Two places were raided in Delhi including Malvinder Singh's home," an official said. The searches were carried out as part of a case filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the official added.

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 Religare Finvest Limited with the Economic Offence Wing of the Delhi Police against the Singh brothers. A case was filed against the brothers in May.

The Indian Express had a story on a different Singh brothers issue about a week ago. Excerpt below. I've boldfaced the part about the RSSB guru and Godhwani.

Using a web of offshore companies, funds were allegedly diverted from Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL), a company listed in India, into a Jersey firm that was solely owned by Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh. REL, which earned consolidated profits of Rs 92 crore on revenues of Rs 748 crore in 2007-08 turned into a loss-making firm in subsequent years with losses mounting to Rs 1,350 crore on revenues of Rs 2,586 crore in 2017-18.

The Singh brothers had a fallout with Sunil Godhwani, who was appointed by the brothers to lead their family office after Ranbaxy sale in addition to his role in Religare (of which he had become the CEO in 2001). Godhwani quit as Chairman and Managing Director of REL in July 2016, and stepped down as whole-time director in September 2017.

Later on, the two brothers fought, blaming each other and Godhwani for fraud. Malvinder alleged that loans were given to Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the spiritual guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, to buy real estate.

It seems virtually indisputable that the last sentence is true. Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family did indeed use allegedly fraudulent loans to buy large amounts of real estate holdings, which later apparently lost value.

Yesterday in a biog post I shared something Dhillon is reported to have said at a talk he gave in Petaluma, California this week.

A woman asked at the end of her questions, "Will you pay for your nephews 5 million" (something like that, I don't have a reference for that and I may not have heard clearly.) 

Baba Ji [the guru] said (as I heard it) "I have some money from my parents and have not taken anything else from anyone." Then he said my life is open (or something like that).

That statement from the guru almost certainly is false. Dhillon and his family have taken lots of money from other people. The Indian financial press has written numerous stories containing evidence to support this.