09/12/1998 - 2209

Touchstone Target of IRS Criminal Investigation

New Orleans, USA (VNN) - The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has launched a criminal investigation into Touchstone, an ISKCON business entity in New Orleans that sells high priced "antique" art paintings. The IRS alleges that some 600 fraudulent tax returns have been filed by the company, going back to 1994. One of the victims of such fraud told VNN: "They basically took the Social Security number of every devotee coming through the New Orleans ISKCON temple and filed a tax return over $7874 in that person's name without his consent or knowledge, pretending they paid this amount as 'profit sharing' to individuals." The apparent purpose of this scam was to minimize the taxes the business would normally owe.

The IRS discovered this scheme after receiving duplicate tax returns from individuals, one from the individual filing his own tax return and another from Touchstone accountants, using the ISKCON temple address, with forged signature and the "New Orleans Vedic Society", a d.b.a. of ISKCON New Orleans, listed as the payor.

Touchstone is also involved in an ongoing FBI investigation into the murder of the New Orleans temple president some years ago. Bound to a chair and his throat cut from ear to ear, the knife still sticking in his neck, Chaturbahu das was found dead by his wife and a friend in the morning hours in a gallery operated by Touchstone, in which he worked besides being the local ISKCON temple president.

The FBI believes this to be an "insider" job, since no signs of break-in or robbery where found. One eyewitness told VNN that the murderers must have known the place, since the lights had been turned off in the gallery by the murderers. "The light switches are in a hidden place behind paintings, only employees of Touchstone knew where to turn them off", one eyewitness told VNN.

VNN has also learned, that just two weeks prior to the murder, Chaturbahu and the co-temple president had confronted the owners of Touchstone about serious financial misdealing, threatening to withdraw the tax exempt status of the company, gained through the temple. Touchstone, a 501d non profit (ISKCON chapter) corporation was supposed to give 50% of its profit to the local temple, but according to a witness, had only given a few thousand of the 6 millions dollars it had earned that year, with the remaining money going to huge houses for the owners of Touchstone and other unknown channels.

No murder suspects have been arrested to this day and the FBI is still looking for leads in the case. The FBI is asking anyone with information about this case to contact the New Orleans FBI or your local law enforcement.

More allegations regarding other company stores and branches overseas in London have been made by some, claiming that money was funneled into Swiss bank accounts from there.

The GBC, to this day, has not investigated this incident, regarding any possible involvement of ISKCON officials, affiliated individuals or even Jayapataka Swami, who was the GBC for this area during the time of the murder and a possible beneficiary of this money in question.

VNN has learned that in both cases, ISKCON members have been told by ISKCON management not to cooperate with law enforcement officials investigating these cases.

In recent developments in Europe, Harikesa blackmailed the GBC for millions of dollars, threatening to expose other criminal activities of "senior ISKCON member, that will have to spend 20 years in jail", as Harikesa put it. Some reports claim that he actually managed to extort $500,000 so far from ISKCON management and may demand more in the future for his silence.

Reports of Sannyasis financing their expensive travel itineraries with "lost" traveler checks and "lost" airline luggage, as well as gurus encouraging disciples to file fraudulent personal bankruptcies, defraud insurance companies and a host of other illegal activities, raise serious questions, of just how vulnerable the GBC and other ISKCON leaders are to such blackmail and extortion by current and former members.