An Open Letter from Bhakti Charu Swami
BY: HH BHAKTI CHARU SWAMI
Nov 23, 2011 — NEW DELHI, INDIA (SUN) — Letter of clarification - Bhakti Charu Swami, McPhar Geosurveys, Sudipto Mukerji.
Response to Sampradaya Sun
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
About a month ago I was informed that the ‘Sampradaya Sun' had published scandalous articles about me, stating that I was involved in business and lost $11 million. These articles implied the money was taken from ISKCON. The articles agitated the devotees and tarnished the reputation of ISKCON and myself. My initial reaction was that, nowadays, so many untrue things are published on the internet that we cannot possibly take them seriously or pay much heed.
However, soon I began to realise that those articles have been taken very seriously by many of my well-wishers and acquaintances all over the world, therefore, I want to set the record straight.
In summary, I want to categorically state that:
1. I was never involved in the management of McPhar Geosurveys, nor was I ever a director, business partner or shareholder.
2. I did not solicit or receive investments (loans, equity or otherwise) from anybody for McPhar Geosurveys.
3. No ISKCON property under my supervision has ever been encumbered or mortgaged to procure any loan for McPhar or any other business.
4. ISKCON has not lost any money as a result of McPhar's bankruptcy.
5. I am not, and never have been, associated with the so-called "BCS Bankruptcy Appeal Committee".
This is a hoax implemented as part of a coordinated attack to damage my reputation.
Srila Prabhupada gave me the service to translate his books into Bengali, which I had been doing for many years. However, when ISKCON was plunged into major crises in the mid-1980s, I was asked to join the GBC and take care of several zones around the world.
As a GBC I had to resolve many crises, for example, I was asked to resolve the bankruptcy of New Mayapur in France. After much hard work of rallying the devotees around the world to raise funds and negotiating with the banks we managed to buy New Mayapur back which was liened for about $2 million.
ISKCON was transitioning from a sankirtan-centred economy to a congregation-centred economy. Many of my GBC Godbrothers found themselves spending time arranging for funding of projects that were crippled by the sudden diaspora of temple devotees. It was at that time that I started to encourage qualified and capable devotees to start businesses to support the activities of ISKCON.
Around the year 2001 one of my disciples Sudipto was looking for business opportunities. Eventually he came across a Canadian company, McPhar Geosurveys, and agreed to become its agent in India.
After some time, Sudipto with the help of Ambarisa Prabhu managed to buy McPhar in Canada. At that time Sudipto decided to offer 50% of the profits to help ISKCON.
Sudipto asked me if I could recommend trusted devotees to help manage this global business. So I asked some of my qualified and competent disciples to join McPhar and help Sudipto.
After a few years the global economy started to decline McPhar developed cash-flow problems. The company began to acquire private loans. These loans had extremely high interest rates - mostly over 20%. I never initiated any of these purely business loans.
At this point, McPhar was managed globally by many devotees and it was through their efforts and contacts that private financing was secured. Some individuals in this network saw an opportunity to get a good return on their capital while helping to grow a business that pledged its support to ISKCON. Although I personally did not solicit any loan from anybody, when I got to know that some of my disciples and friends had given loans, I thanked them and expressed my gratitude.
A piece of land in Ujjain owned by some of my accomplished friends and disciples involved in McPhar, was mortgaged. That non-SKCON land was earmarked for an IT park and a shopping complex, and they intended to give 50% of the profits to Krishna. No ISKCON land was ever mortgaged.
Unfortunately, McPhar went bankrupt. I have no idea how much money McPhar lost since I was not involved in the management of that company.
I am deeply distressed that the Sampradaya Sun would publish such an article containing such a false and malicious attack on my character. I urge Sampradaya Sun to remove the article and apologise to its readers for printing such misleading information. I hope that this open letter will clarify and remove any doubts about my involvement in this company and reverse the tarnish to my reputation and that of ISKCON.
As a sannyasi, I have no personal motivation and have committed my life in service. All of my activities were intended to serve ISKCON and to please Srila Prabhupada.
Yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada,
Bhakti Charu Swami
New Delhi
21 November 2011
