The Secret Deal to Sell the Brooklyn Temple:
Where do things stand now?
BY: H.H. JAYADVAITA SWAMI
For immediate release
April 30, 2016
Contact: Jayadvaita Swami
The secret deal to sell the Brooklyn temple:
Where do things stand now? by Jayadvaita Swami
As disclosed earlier this year, last September the leaders of the Brooklyn ISKCON temple secretly signed a deal to sell the Brooklyn temple property. And since January, when the deal was discovered, members of the temple congregation and other senior devotees have been working to prevent the deal from going through. Since January, too, devotees opposing the deal have retained a New York law firm with expertise in nonprofit and property law to advise and represent them.
Where do things stand now?
BY: H.H. JAYADVAITA SWAMI
For immediate release
April 30, 2016
Contact: Jayadvaita Swami
The secret deal to sell the Brooklyn temple:
Where do things stand now? by Jayadvaita Swami
As disclosed earlier this year, last September the leaders of the Brooklyn ISKCON temple secretly signed a deal to sell the Brooklyn temple property. And since January, when the deal was discovered, members of the temple congregation and other senior devotees have been working to prevent the deal from going through. Since January, too, devotees opposing the deal have retained a New York law firm with expertise in nonprofit and property law to advise and represent them.
[PADA: OK so why hasn't Romapada and his team been removed from all posts of authority in ISKCON, since they are conducting illegal property deals without consulting the GBC, the congregation, or anyone else? This is clearly illegal activity.
And why haven't they been charged in a police report for -- criminal felony fraud? Selling a multi-million dollar property without legal authority is grand theft felony fraud, its a criminal action, and not just "a violation of GBC rules"?
If a person who worked as a manager for IBM started a criminal action of selling IBM's office building, without even consulting the owners and managers of the corporation, he would be charged with criminal conspiracy felony fraud, and put in jail. Instead, the poor peon temple congregation folks have to shell out money for a New York law firm, and fight the crooks on their own because the GBC does not do its job of containing these corrupt behaviors.]
Where do things stand now? And what does the future hold? The temple leaders have signed a binding contract to sell the building, and it's too late for them to back out.
[PADA: Well that means the GBC has not gone to the police and reported that their building is being sold illegally, that would end the sale right there.]
The sale, however, has not been completed. It is not final. And so it seems there is a way for it to be cancelled, without penalties. The State of New York takes special concern to safeguard the interests of religious congregations. And so the sale of a religious building, like this temple, needs the approval of:
* 2/3 of the board of directors,
* 2/3 of the Congregation, and
* the State Attorney General (or else a court)
Unless these three conditions are met, the sale cannot go through.
* As for the board: There are reasons to believe that the present board isn't legally valid. And in any case, it's short of the required number of members, and so it could never achieve the required vote. This provides grounds for the State to invalidate the sale.
[PADA: Again, if the board is not legally valid, and they are selling Prabhupada's property without legal authority, why haven't the police been notified and charges been filed?]
* As for the Congregation, they have not voted. And, despite temple bylaws that try to cut the Congregation out, arguably their vote is required.
[PADA: The GBC also did not consult the congregations when they appointed their bogus acharyas. Almost cent percent of the Prabhupada devotees left the Berkeley temple by 1985, because none of them were consulted whether they wanted Hansadutta to be the new messiah of the Jagat. So they had to vote with their feet, and leave. The GBC failed to correct the issue.]
* As for the Attorney General:
he has not yet approved the sale. And he has received objections to it from dozens of members of the Congregation. So he knows that the matter is not simple and routine. His practice under such circumstances is to withhold approval and leave the matter for a court to sort out.
If the Attorney General does indeed withhold approval, the Sellers (the temple leaders) will be obliged by their contract to ask a local Court to approve the sale.
The Court is likely to call for meetings of the Congregation to elect a new board and to vote on whether or not the sale has congregational approval.
If 1/3 or more of the Congregation votes no, the vote fails. The Court will then cancel the sale.
When this happens, no blame falls upon the Sellers, and no one is liable for damages.
For now, as mentioned, the matter still seems to lie with the Attorney General's office, awaiting his decision.
Meanwhile, on March 3 in Mayapur the GBC body devoted several hours to meeting about the pending sale. Sivarama Swami and B. B. Govinda Swami led the efforts to subject the proposed sale to fresh scrutiny. Romapada Swami (the local GBC man) and Ramabhadra dasa (the temple president) both attended the full sessions.
Ramesvara dasa and Jayadvaita Swami, who had both flown from New York to Mayapur to oppose the sale, were invited to take part in the meetings for an hour to speak and answer questions. The meetings were confidential, and thus far the GBC has not made any public statement.
The GBC has not, however, taken any action to discourage the members of the Congregation from working to oppose the sale. Among the New York congregation, the efforts to save the temple from being sold are continuing.
[PADA: OK so the GBC is once again allowing its gurus to conduct illegal felony criminal fraud behaviors without reporting that to the proper authorities and correcting the problems. Rather the congregation has to take the GBC to court for changing the books, orchestrating molesting, selling their buildings, trying to make hokey gurus for Bangalore etc. These GBC guys have not been doing their job of correcting these issues. That is why the book "Monkey On A Stick" says the GBC are "gutless wonders," they are not doing the job of managing the society despite taking financial compensation for "managing." ys pd]
And why haven't they been charged in a police report for -- criminal felony fraud? Selling a multi-million dollar property without legal authority is grand theft felony fraud, its a criminal action, and not just "a violation of GBC rules"?
If a person who worked as a manager for IBM started a criminal action of selling IBM's office building, without even consulting the owners and managers of the corporation, he would be charged with criminal conspiracy felony fraud, and put in jail. Instead, the poor peon temple congregation folks have to shell out money for a New York law firm, and fight the crooks on their own because the GBC does not do its job of containing these corrupt behaviors.]
Where do things stand now? And what does the future hold? The temple leaders have signed a binding contract to sell the building, and it's too late for them to back out.
[PADA: Well that means the GBC has not gone to the police and reported that their building is being sold illegally, that would end the sale right there.]
The sale, however, has not been completed. It is not final. And so it seems there is a way for it to be cancelled, without penalties. The State of New York takes special concern to safeguard the interests of religious congregations. And so the sale of a religious building, like this temple, needs the approval of:
* 2/3 of the board of directors,
* 2/3 of the Congregation, and
* the State Attorney General (or else a court)
Unless these three conditions are met, the sale cannot go through.
* As for the board: There are reasons to believe that the present board isn't legally valid. And in any case, it's short of the required number of members, and so it could never achieve the required vote. This provides grounds for the State to invalidate the sale.
[PADA: Again, if the board is not legally valid, and they are selling Prabhupada's property without legal authority, why haven't the police been notified and charges been filed?]
* As for the Congregation, they have not voted. And, despite temple bylaws that try to cut the Congregation out, arguably their vote is required.
[PADA: The GBC also did not consult the congregations when they appointed their bogus acharyas. Almost cent percent of the Prabhupada devotees left the Berkeley temple by 1985, because none of them were consulted whether they wanted Hansadutta to be the new messiah of the Jagat. So they had to vote with their feet, and leave. The GBC failed to correct the issue.]
* As for the Attorney General:
he has not yet approved the sale. And he has received objections to it from dozens of members of the Congregation. So he knows that the matter is not simple and routine. His practice under such circumstances is to withhold approval and leave the matter for a court to sort out.
If the Attorney General does indeed withhold approval, the Sellers (the temple leaders) will be obliged by their contract to ask a local Court to approve the sale.
The Court is likely to call for meetings of the Congregation to elect a new board and to vote on whether or not the sale has congregational approval.
If 1/3 or more of the Congregation votes no, the vote fails. The Court will then cancel the sale.
When this happens, no blame falls upon the Sellers, and no one is liable for damages.
For now, as mentioned, the matter still seems to lie with the Attorney General's office, awaiting his decision.
Meanwhile, on March 3 in Mayapur the GBC body devoted several hours to meeting about the pending sale. Sivarama Swami and B. B. Govinda Swami led the efforts to subject the proposed sale to fresh scrutiny. Romapada Swami (the local GBC man) and Ramabhadra dasa (the temple president) both attended the full sessions.
Ramesvara dasa and Jayadvaita Swami, who had both flown from New York to Mayapur to oppose the sale, were invited to take part in the meetings for an hour to speak and answer questions. The meetings were confidential, and thus far the GBC has not made any public statement.
The GBC has not, however, taken any action to discourage the members of the Congregation from working to oppose the sale. Among the New York congregation, the efforts to save the temple from being sold are continuing.
[PADA: OK so the GBC is once again allowing its gurus to conduct illegal felony criminal fraud behaviors without reporting that to the proper authorities and correcting the problems. Rather the congregation has to take the GBC to court for changing the books, orchestrating molesting, selling their buildings, trying to make hokey gurus for Bangalore etc. These GBC guys have not been doing their job of correcting these issues. That is why the book "Monkey On A Stick" says the GBC are "gutless wonders," they are not doing the job of managing the society despite taking financial compensation for "managing." ys pd]
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