Abuse in Yogi Bhajan's 3HO Kundalini Yoga World
All kinds of frauds & more
Financial Abuse Experienced by KartaPurkh
Paragraph 61 from the 1986 lawsuit of KartaPurkh:
On the whole, the entire creation and operation of the corporation sole, the 3H0 Foundation and Sikh Dharma Brotherhood corporation, as created by Bhajan and operated by the defendants, was all part of a unified scheme of deceit. Rather than being nonprofit eleemosynary or religious organizations, these organizations were created and totally controlled by Bhajan in order for Bhajan to obtain sex, money, property, power, constant personal attention and selfaggrandizement.
The court case lists among many other things, a list of products Kate developed for Yogi Bhajan for which she was never paid.
Case 1 - Sunshine
Kate developed formulas for hair and skin care products.
YB promised her 10% ownership of the business, and a seat on the board of directors if she would turn over the formulas.
She consulted the 3HO chancellor to make sure that she would be protected financially. He confirmed all was fine.
None of the promises were kept.
She complained and via the chancellery. They gave her documents that declared she would receive some interest. Those documents were false which she did not know.
Case 2 – Candy bar recipes
YB asked Kate to research and develop candy bar recipes. She was promised a salary, reimbursement for her costs, a percentage of ownership in the Golden Temple Bakery and a royalty fee for each candy bar sold.
In reality she received 300 USD a month for travel expenses, that’s all.
Case 3 - Cookie recipes
If her recipes would be successful she would become a partner of the company and receive a percentage of the profits. ‘Lemon Up, Ginger Zam, Paradise Pistachio and Rasin Oats’, were developed, produced and sold by Nanak Cookie Company.
She received nothing for the 7 months she worked on this.
Paragraph 108
… His control is maintained by his power to allocate and distribute funds, as well as by extorting the cooperation of his followers on those occasions when they hesitate to provide him with money, labor or some other service or assistance he desires. In addition, the mail fraud and wire fraud enable Bhajan to recruit new adherents, avoid the scrutiny of the public or authorities, and discredit his opponents and critics both inside and outside his organization. By extortion Bhajan is able to silence his critics within the organization, both while those critics are still in the group and after they leave.
The court case describes the techniques used to avoid tax paying and to ensure that all properties came under the ultimate control of Yogi Bhajan. How the use of mail fraud and wire fraud was standard practise over the years. ‘The use of extortion and threats of physical violence to affect commerce is a standard practice of Bhajan, and is accepted without protest among Bhajans followers, including the other individual defendants named in this case.’ The case gives some examples.
One is how Premka was threatened with death by Yogi Bhajan in the winter of 1979 if she ever left his service.
Another is about Steve Epstein and his wife:
In May, 1985, in Los Angeles, California, Steven Epstein of San Antonio, Texas, was a follower of Bhajan, and was contributing large amounts of money to businesses controlled by Bhajan (including real estate ventures and Khalsa Sunshine, Inc.), and was receiving neither promised remuneration nor proper legal documentation in connection with the transactions. Epsteins wife, Carol, was demanding proper performance by Bhajan and the companies into which Steve Epstein was putting his money and time, and was threatening to divorce Steve Epstein if the matters were not straightened out. Bhajan responded by threatening Steven Epstein with death if he ever "quit working for" Bhajan, and threatening Mr. Epsteins wife that Bhajan, through his organization, would retaliate against Mrs. Epstein if she attempted to divorce her husband. The retaliation against Mrs. Epstein ~would take the form of harassing lawsuits so that Mrs. Epstein "would never have any peace," the hiring of psychologists to testify that she was an unfit mother for her children and a suit for custody over her children, and Mrs. Epstein being "thrown out into the street with nothing."
Yet another one is about Mr.Brook Webb who was involved in a landscaping business controlled by YB and was not satisfied with how the business was run. YB threatened to kill Webb if he left the company.
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Survivor stories included on this site,
draw only a fraction of what really happened.
Many more stories are out there, told and untold.
Truth telling is a prerequisite for justice and reconciliation.
