The Costa Rica Farm: Epilogue
BY: ANIRUDDHA DAS
Their most Beautiful and Merciful Sri Sri Radha-Govinda (Costa Rica)
May 26, 2012 — GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA (SUN) — Due to the obstinacy, one-upmanship and crass managerial ineptitude of Guru Prasad Swami —who was all the way sheepishly backed by Bhakti Bhusana Swami, Virabahu, and Manonath (and behind the scenes, by Jayapataka Swami, which ultimately draw the full support of the whole GBC), we, the devotees loyal to Srila Prabhupada, had no option but to exercise our legitimate right of resort to external justice to avoid the imminent selling of Srila Prabhupada's farm at Costa Rica.
We initiated legal action against Guru Prasad Swami and allies in 2006. After studying our well-substantiated case, the court ruled in our favor. As an immediate measure, the judge ordered to the Costa Rican National Register of Real Property the annotation of the following ruling: "This farm CANNOT BE SOLD" .
After filing our case, Bernardo Chinchilla, Guru Prasad Swami's lawyer, lost one after another all the legal actions he submitted to defend his client. To halt this losing streak, Guru Prasad changed lawyers, not once, but five times over a 4-year period.
Finally, at the beginning of 2010, in a desperate attempt to save not only his neck but also the necks of Bhakti Bhusana Swami, Manonath, and the pervert Sri Padambuja (William S. Henricks, Stefan Kess, Mario Savelloni, and Ángel Pérez, respectively, who were the four defendants in our initial lawsuit), Guru Prasad Swami hired a costly law farm: Bufete Echeverría.
After reviewing the case, the Echeverrías told Guru Prasad more or less the following: "Look, these people have a very good case. We can give it a try and entangle them in a long legal battle which may last twenty years or even more. But the crude fact is the odds are against you; the probabilities of you winning the case are negligible. And inevitably and collaterally, the judges will eventually rule against you in several or all charges they have imputed on you".
We, the loyal disciples of Srila Prabhupada in Costa Rica, charged or would have charged William S. Hendricks and accomplices with either one or more of the following counts: (i) Unauthorized Assumption of a Right, (ii) Land Usurpation, (iii) Conspiracy to Commit a Felony, (v) Unlawful Association, (vi) Embezzlement, (vii) Ideological Falseness, (viii) Noncompliance with Regulations, (ix) Abuse of Authority, (x) Use of False Documents [Forgery], (xi) Intention of Committing Fraud, and (xii) Fraudulent Misrepresentation. What Guru Prasad and allies feared the most was our legal petition of 'Lifting of the Corporate Veil' (also known as 'Piercing of the Veil'), because that would bring to public light all the cheating, all the illegal maneuvers, all the lies they personally committed in their attempt to sell the Costa Rica farm, in doing which, they are flagrantly violated Srila Prabhupada's orders. As Yadu (now, Ananda Vidvan Swami) wrote in his post, "Guru Prasad Swami's Testament":
"…Now that the issue has become a court case, I decided to examine Guru Prasad Swami's written will to see how truthful he has been, and I received it from the Costa Rica National Archives, via scanning. The document is one page and a half long, and has only three clauses. A summary is given as follows:
Before me, Vilma Meza, advocate and notary public (etc.), appears Mr. William Steven Hendricks [GPS], a citizen of the United States, passport number 701755533, issued by the USA Embassy in Caracas (etc.), and he declares the disposition of his last will as follows:
FIRST: I name GEORGE LEVINTON as my only and universal inheritor. He is a citizen of the United States, passport number 131627505 (etc.). In case of my demise he will inherit my farm located in the Province of Cartago, number 03152242000 (etc.).
SECOND: I name GEORGE LEVINTON as executive proprietor of the succession (etc.).
THIRD: I revoke and invalidate any other disposition of will that I may have issued previously (etc).
Signed in San Jose, on October 13th, 2001, at the 19 hours
—o—
In Guru Prasad Swami's [William S. Hendricks] testament there is absolutely no mention of ISKCON anywhere, much less any reference that in case of his demise the property should pass on to ISKCON. Rather, it specifically says that the only and universal inheritor is GEORGE LEVINTON. So the testament proves another lie of Guru Prasad Swami. It proves once again that Maharaja has never spoken the truth regarding the Costa Rica farm.
In the past some Godbrothers have talked to Guru Prasad Swami about what I say in my letters, and somehow or other Maharaja manages to impress them, to make them believe that he is saying the truth and that I am making up stories. Therefore, on top of the many proofs that I have already given, I present his own testament as another evidence. Whoever believes Guru Prasad Swami has the freedom to do so, but at least he or she should know that Maharaja is for sure saying a lie.
In spite of the ample documentation that we have provided; in spite of the many letters that many devotees have written; in spite of the many evidences of his many lies, Maharaja managed to gain the support of GBC body. But his lies are so abundant, so foolish and so easy to prove, that the judicial system in Costa Rica will have no trouble in understanding them for what they are: a fraud.
We may ask: If Guru Prasad Swami is no longer the owner of the farm, what is the relevance of speaking about GEORGE LEVINTON as his universal inheritor? We will see the implication of this as this paper develops.
—o—
After the creation of The Lifter of the Hill, of which Bhakti Bhusana Swami and Manonath are the owners, Bhakti Bhusana Swami also wrote a will, in the presence of the same lawyer, making the same person the inheritor of all the properties of the Lifter. The relevant passage is:
Mr. Stefan Kess [BBS], German citizen, passport number 6467066074, issued in Heidelberg, Germany (etc.), declares that he makes GEORGE STUART LEVINTON his only and universal inheritor. (Dated: 11:10 AM, June 8th, 2006)
Similarly, Manonath, the other owner of The Lifter, also wrote his will:
Mr. Mario Savelloni, Italian citizen, passport number C9741403 (etc.), declares that he makes William Steven Hendricks [GPS] his only and universal inheritor. (Dated: 8:15 AM, June 8th, 2006)
The series of simulated transactions and the testaments prove that it is the same little group of people passing the ball around. In the court case this is a liability for Guru Prasad Swami and associates, because it proves that the Lifter is a fake company, created only to serve as a veil in false transactions. It proves that Guru Prasad Swami's selling the farm to Bhakti Bhusana Swami and to Manonath is false, and therefore, illegal. The simulation becomes evident when Manonath makes Guru Prasad Swami (the former owner) his inheritor, and when Bhakti Bhusana Swami makes the former owner's inheritor, GEORGE LEVINTON his own universal inheritor.
—o—
Who is this GEORGE LEVINTON anyway? And what does he has to do with a property donated to the devotees in Costa Rica? I asked a contact in the United States and he answered: "Look here" . And he sent me a 36-page document written by the "Law Offices of Windle Turley P.C.", containing the Gurukulis-Turley case, with the complete list of plaintiffs and accused individuals and related information.
I looked at the document and found the following statement:
7. Defendant ISKCON KRISHNAFEST USA, INC. is a Texas corporation headquartered in Texas. Its principal place of business address is 5430 Gurley Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75223. It may be served by serving its registered agent for service of process, George Levington.
Since in the Gurukulis-Turley case the address of GEORGE LEVINTON (or Levington) was given as Dallas, I wrote a contact in Dallas, and received the following answer.
"Please do not give out my name to your friends as the source of this information. George Levington is Gunagrahi Swami. He used to go around in a bus with a few devotees and was preaching like that. Generally he used to travel between Texas and LA/San Diego. It is said one time he [...etc.]".
GEORGE LEVINTON (or Gunagrahi Swami) has no connection whatsoever with the project in Costa Rica, and therefore he should have no rights to become the inheritor of a property donated to the local devotees for establishing a community of Vaisnavas in that country. However, he certainly has a connection with the Gurukulis-Turley case, and perhaps this connection is powerful enough to give him rights over the project in Costa Rica...
In my first letter to Guru Prasad Swami, dated October 15th, 2006, I told him: "My intuition tells me that you are under pressure to sell the farm to contribute some money to the Gurukulis-Turley case".
Guru Prasad Swami answered: "I consider that intuition of yours an insult to my integrity and sense of ethics".
In a subsequent letter I apologized to Maharaja "for hurting his sense of ethics" (not for the intuition itself, because intuitions are always harmless). But now that so many of his lies have been put on the table, including his testament with the name of GEORGE LEVINTON, I wonder if my intuition was right, and specially I wonder about Maharaja's sense of ethics... [Emphasis added. A.d.]
—o—
One of the arguments of Guru Prasad Swami for not preserving the farm has been that no people visit the project. To make this true, now, on the 24th of April 2008 —after the attempt of evicting the devotees by a political connections and lies failed— his lawyer has posted two private guards at the main gate to stop all visitors from entering.
When lying, manipulation, and lobbying failed, the Bandit Queen takes to the guns.
[Note: The Bandit Queen {Phoolan Devi} was a dacoit woman who made national news with her band of ruffians, and prospered by unlawful acts. When she was caught she had to spend several years in jail. Afterwards she became a politician and was elected to the Lower House of the Parliament of India. She was a master gunda, but ultimately she was killed on the streets of Delhi.]
Guru Prasad Swami, his associates, lawyers and advisors, may think that following the footsteps of the Bandit Queen, and trying to win by guns and guards is a smart thing, but failure is bound to come to them.
The only correct thing to do is to stick to Srila Prabhupada's instructions: that Deities should not be removed, that temples should not be closed down, and that farm communities should be developed.
Srila Prabhupada: "My Dear Murari, So far as your plan for opening centers is concerned, that program sounds very encouraging. But one thing you should know is that we cannot have another situation like Edinburgh. Once a temple has been opened it must never be closed" . (December 31, 1970)
Are we, the members of ISKCON, going to allow Guru Prasad Swami and associates to do exactly the opposite that Srila Prabhupada requested, and do nothing? Is this man honoring Srila Prabhupada?
A REQUEST TO ALL READERS
Please write a message of support for the preservation of the farm, short on long, as you like; but write something so that lies and guns do not take over justice and truth; so that lies and manipulation and lobbying do not take over Srila Prabhupada's desire and vision for a community of Vaisnavas.
Please send your message of support to:
radhagovindadhama@gmail.com [email updated. A.d.]
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
Yadu Das
India, April 27th, 2008"
-----
To finish with the Echeverrías adept legal assessment, they ended saying to Guru Prasad Swami:
"So our professional and well-meaning advice is that you better negotiate an extrajudicial agreement with AMOHK".
AMOHK is the acronym of "Asociación ISKCON Movimiento Hare Krishna de Costa Rica", the legal entity we incorporated to represent us at the courts. And for the matter, for everything else from now on.
Sometime later the Echeverrías contacted our lawyers. After meeting together several times, they came up with an offer which was opportunely presented to us: Guru Prasad was proposing to unconditionally surrender to us 50% of the farm (8,374 hectares.) And he even would give us the prerogative of choosing the half we liked the most.
The devotees loyal to Srila Prabhupada in Costa Rica who launched the worldwide campaign to preserve His Divine Grace's farm in this country, came to the conclusion that it was a good deal after all. We had absolutely nothing at the beginning, and now, utterly forced by the circumstances, Guru Prasad Swami was willing to transfer to us half of the farm. The best part of it. So we took the offer. We also didn't waste any more time, resources, and energy in fighting these so-called managers, these bad servitors of Srila Prabhupada.
On September 18, 2010, Upendra Prabhu, acting President and legal representative of AMOHK, signed the Transfer Deed wherein the legal representatives of the commercial entity "El Sostenedor de la Colina, S.A.", —owned originally by Steffan Kess (Bhakti Bhusana Swami) and Mario Savelloni (Manonath das), both straw men of William Steven Hendricks (Guru Prasad Swami), who in 2006 figured in the papers as the only legal, private, owner of the farm— ceded to AMOHK 50% of the Hare Krishna farm at Cartago, Costa Rica. By the way, in the act of putting the farm solely under his name, Guru Prasad trampled upon ISKCON laws, which for the big shots are as elastic as the large cords of bungee jumping.
Thus we put an end to this bittersweet chapter in ISKCON history. Bitter because we couldn't accomplish our ideal goal of preserving the totality of Srila Prabhupada's farm. As Srila Prabhupada's said, if you fight with a predator animal, don't get surprised if you get a deep wound. And sweet because we —a couple of nobodies with no position at all within ISKCON's institutional hierachy, but who were ready to go to the last consequences to defend Srila Prabhupada's instructions and Last Will— have showed to the worldwide community of Vaisnavas and Vaisnavis that after almost 35 years of abuses, rampant corruption, and disastrous deviations perpetrated by the GBC, it is not only compulsory, but feasible to stop cold these so-called "ultimate managerial and spiritual authorities."
Lastly, I want to inform that our dear Godbrother, Yadu dasa Brahmacari, took the sannyasa order at the end of 2010. His name now is Ananda Vidvan Swami. Since joining ISKCON 36 years ago (1975), Yadu observed strict brahmacari vows. He spent the last twenty-one years of his life (1989 – 2010) in India, diligently and painstakingly preparing himself for the most grave and demanding stage of life he eventually wanted to undertake: the sannyasa order. By such dedication he became a Sanskrit scholar, and very well versed in Vaisnava scriptures. Above and foremost, Yadu Prabhu carefully studied all of Srila Prabhupada's books and teachings, as well as his unparalleled life history.
Ananda Vidvan Swami arrived at Srila Prabhupada's farm on May 23, 2011. Now, he and the other devotees who designed a master plan for developing the farm (Harinamananda, Yamuna, Upendra, mother Sevya, etc.), are working conjointly to push forward the project.
All the devotees are cordially invited to visit the farm —which was renamed "Radha Govinda Dham" in honor of the most beautiful Deities we installed in Janmastami, 2008— and to associate with Ananda Vidvan Swami, whose level of Krishna consciousness and deep love and devotion for Srila Prabhupada, are, in my own experience, truly enlightening and heart-warming. Really.
Last piece of information I want to share with the respectable Vaisnavas and Vaisnavis:
At the beginning of this year (2012), Guru Prasad Swami sold his half of Srila Prabhupada's farm to Scotia Bank for U.S. $1,980,000.00 Almost two million bucks. It could easily have sold for 3 million dollars according to the current market price, but Guru Prasad was in a hurry to sell it… Now I warn everybody, GBC included: Please keep an eye on this money, otherwise Guru Prasad will surely squander it, and even lose it, as he has done many, but many times in the past. We have abundantly documented in the Sampradaya Sun what a fiasco of managers are Guru Prasad, Manonath, and Virabahu.
Finally, I want to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to Rocana Prabhu and Radha Krishna Prabhu, editors of Sampradaya Sun and El Tambor Rugiente, respectively, for their unconditional support during our campaign. They unfailingly and punctually published all our submissions regarding the effort to preserve Srila Prabhupada's farm. Sincere obeisances to them and, also, to the thousands upon thousands of real followers of Srila Prabhupada who supported our cause: to uphold the integrity of Srila Prabhupada's legacy and mission.
All glories to Yuga-Acarya Om Vishnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya Sri Srimad His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada!
