and took control over the book publishing [Krsna Books Inc.]
From: madhudvisa@hotmail.com
To: Gupta das [Joseph Fedorowsky]
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999
Dear Gupta Prabhu
Hari Bol! Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Thanks for the note. I've noted the progress of Hansadutta's case with a great deal of distress indeed. The whole thing is almost unbelievable. From the information I have it appears you have not acted in the best interests of your client [Hansadutta] in this matter at all. From where I sit it appears while acting as Hansadutta's attorney you were actually acting in the interests of ISKCON.
Otherwise how could you have possibly advised Hansadutta to accept such a ridiculous settlement with ISKCON when he was in such a strong legal position? You know it well that he has agreed to terms which make it very difficult indeed to actually distribute any books even if he prints them... And to further complicate matters you have advised him to place the settlement monies in a trust and bank account that you seem to have sole control over. In other words you have used various devices to steal the settlement monies from your client and place them in a trust account which you have sole access to but your client does not have any access whatsoever.
Even though you have the settlement monies in your control at this time we have heard some reports that you are spending the money on you sense gratification, not on printing Srila Prabhupada's original books. At the same time you are trying to sue Hansadutta for another $600,000+ [Your "legal fees" I suppose...] But you are meant to be a devotee and the work you did on the case was supposed to be your devotional service...
So the only thing I can conclude, at least from the information I have, is you are in it for the money, not for printing Srila Prabhupada's original books at all.
It's not a very intelligent path to take. Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and Srila Prabhupada is His pure devotee. By acting for ISKCON in this matter you have frustrated the attempts to reprint Srila Prabhupada's original books and have advised Hansadutta to accept a most ridiculous settlement with ISKCON.
At least, from the information I have at my disposal, I can't see why you would want to print Srila Prabhupada's original books. You appear to be working for ISKCON and they have constantly tried to kill Srila Prabhupada, destroy his books, and bash, ban, blaspheme and beat any devotee who dares take shelter of Srila Prabhupada. They have constantly worked to transform Srila Prabhupada's ISKCON into a mundane religious organization in which they can be the "high priests." But they have absolutely no intention of becoming pure devotees, becoming qualified gurus... They want to be "High Priests" without any spiritual qualifications... And they seem to be your clients now, so how can I believe you want to print Srila Prabhupada's original books?
If you actually wanted to print the books there's nothing whatsoever stopping you from printing them NOW. You have enough money to print the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, the entire Srimad-Bhagavatam, and many other books also. But you are not printing ANYTHING! Why? Why should I believe that you will ever print anything? ......
Madhudvisa das
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How Gupta Cheated Hansaduttaand took control over the book publishing [Krsna Books Inc.]
Despite Hansadutta being granted to privately print books, he could not do so, because Gupta das, aka Joseph Fedorowsky, (Hansaduttas lawyer (liar) for the court case), very badly cheated him, together with Bhagavan, by taking control of the newly created KBI-Book company including all of the money from the court case.
Joseph Fedorowsky (aka Gupta das)  578 Washington Blvd Ste 808 Marina Del Rey, CA 90292 Office: 310-601-8032 |
Hansadutta very bitterly complained that Gupta has stolen wide more than 300'000 USD and is completely paralysing the printing. Gupta has conspired with Bhagavan (William Ehrlichman) and they have completely ripped him off. But by this time, it was to late already. Hansadutta did not realize that Gupta had cheated him by registering the LICENSEE as "Krishna Books Inc" and not as "Krsna Books Inc".
When the court case started, Gupta presented HIS company (Krishna Inc) to the court and not Hansaduttas company (Krsna Inc). Hansaduttas registered company for the court case was called Krsna Book Inc (please note the missing -h- and -i- in the word Krsna). Gupta secretly registered another company (in his name) which is called Krishna Book Inc, similar to Hansadutta's company but WITH the -h- and -i- in the word Krishna.
Hansadutta did not detect this clever trick of Gupta (to switch the name). So when the court case was won, all the money and publishing rights went to Gupta and not to Hansaduttas company. So, Gupta is the greatest cheater on earth. Hansadutta tried to dismiss Gupta, but was himself dismissed by Gupta.
On Jan 15, 1999 Hansadutta wrote to VNN - VNN9901 - concerning the dismissal Of Gupta: "This announcement is to inform all interested parties that Gupta das, a.k.a. Joseph Fedorowsky of Oxford law firm, no longer represents K.B.Inc. (Krsna Books Inc.) of which Hans Jurgen Kary (Hansadutta das) is the chairman of the Board. He also has been dismissed and replaced as a trustee of the "Krsna Books Publishing Trust". Joseph Fedorowsky does not represent the above mentioned corporation, nor the trust in any manner, legal or otherwise. Inquiries regarding the activities of K.B.Inc. e-mail hans@sonic.net [email no longer valid]
Hansaduttas Company is called "Krsna Books Inc" and Guptas company (of which solely Gupta is in charge) is called "Krishna Books Inc". Please note that those are two complete differently registered Companies, two different firms, two different legal entities, one has nothing to do with the other. Of course the settlement monies as well as the license for printing books was granted to "Krishna Books Inc" which means to Gupta.
An internal Board dispute surrounding the identity and form of the real Licensee necessitated a contested Motion to Amend the Stipulated Judgment in settlement of the underlying BBTI v Kary court case.
So Gupta explained to Hansadutta that "Krishna Books Inc" (Gupta) has no affiliation with "Krsna Books Inc" (Hansadutta) and placed the following article on VNN to clarify who the real LICENSEE is. After Gupta ripped of Hansaduttas book publishing company, by submitting his company to the court he wrote the following:
USA, Mar 30,1999 VNN3459 — Court Affirms Krishna Books Inc As Licensee
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John P. Shook ruled yesterday that Krishna Books Inc, a California Nonprofit Religious Corporation, is the official LICENSEE which holds the License to print and publish the pre-1978 Works of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. That License was granted on November 13, 1998, by the LICENSOR, that is, the revalidated BBT, and it's agent, the BBTI, to the LICENSEE, in settlement of the underlying BBTI v Kary BC 170617 case.
"An internal Board dispute surrounding the identity and form of the Licensee necessitated a contested Motion to Amend the Stipulated Judgment to affirm the Licensee as Krishna Books Inc. The Court's ruling today resolved that legal dispute over the identity of the LICENSEE and now paves the way for the Board of Directors of Krishna Books Inc to print and publish the original, unedited Works of His Divine Grace. It should also be noted that the California Nonprofit Religious Corporation, Krishna Books Inc, has no affiliation with "Krsna Books Inc".
What a clever trick. Hansadutta thought to dismiss Gupta from his book publishing trust "Krsna Books Inc" but Gupta kicked out Hansadutta from the Board of Directors of "Krishna Books Inc". Although Hansadutta was winning this court case legally, he nevertheless lost it to Gupta, because Gupta stole Hansaduttas book publishing company, including all of the Settlement money, by registering and submitting HIS company to the court, not Hansaduttas.
Hansadutta did not realize that Gupta had cheated him by registering the LICENSEE as 'Krishna Books Inc' and not as 'Krsna Books Inc'. Please note that those are two complete differently registered Companies. Of course the settlement monies as well as the license for printing books was granted to 'Krishna Books Inc' which means to Gupta.
Gupta has convoluted and thrown the whole KBI situation into confusion. Actually this Gupta does not have a single book (Krishna Book) in his house or office, never reads these books, never sells books, never has printed a Book, and never will print a book. He does not Chant Hare Krishna, neither he follows the 4 regulative principles, never rises before 7 or 8 in the morning, and is bringing his child of 4 years old up to be a complete Karmie, his wife is a karmie. They laugh in amusement when their child (a girl ) says things like 'Mother fucker' or 'You ass hole' (Sorry about that ). He does not follow any sadhana at all, does not follow the four regulative principles, or even has any faith in Srila Prabhupada as a Pure, infallible transparent medium to Krishna. In fact he does not believe in Krishna at all, he is a Buddhist by his own declaration. He personally told Hansadutta he does not believe everything Srila Prabhupada did or said was right. He declared to another devotee some time ago "Actually I am a Buddhist, I no longer believe in Krishna , I don't think there is any absolute truth" Gupta is simply patronizing the devotees to appear devotional. His underlying motive is money only, not Vani or books. He thought this would be a good 'cash cow' from now till forever if he positioned himself strategically.
Gupta has frozen the whole printing situation with his legal manoeuvrings, making demands for more money, and legal structural arrangements designed to put Hansadutta in Check by placing Bhagavan (William Ehrlichman, Pot head, womanizer and recently convicted counterfitted and drug dealer) as a co. protector trustee on Hansaduttas head.
Gupta has also threatened to go to court in concert with ISKCON to reverse the license granted to Hansadutta, who has hired a number of lawyers to deal with the situation. Bhagavan was arrested on December 28 or 29th 1998 in New York city for "Defrauding the public" The judge will be interested to know Bhagvan's criminal history, and of course his involvement in the most recent fraud in concert with Fraud-erowsky, who by the way also has a pretty bizzare criminal history, murder drugs etc. Of course he turned states evidence so he got off, but it's all there and Judges understand these things.
Gupta always had an underlying motive, namely money, and he is trying to take the whole thing for himself, he has positioned himself (due to Hansaduttas naive nature) in all the key positions, like, sole signor on the bank acct, as a trustee, as a director, and of course he is a lawyer (Liar), and he poses as a devotee, even demanding he be paid $200.00 per hour for his "DEVOTIONAL SERVICE" totaling about $670,000.00 USD and additional fees as he see fit. He started out by signing an agreement to work for $50.00 an hour, and then it was discovered he mis- appropriated $125,000.00 USD given to him as investment capital from which the interest accrued would go to pay his legal fees. The money vanished, no accounting from him, only much talk. But there are legal channels which can deal with this. He also took, without authority, about $60,000.00 USD from the Krsna Trust acct. of which he made himself the sole signor along with some karmie friend. Fortunately Bhima from Singapore caught on to his scheme in time, and not all is lost yet, except a lot of time and irritation.
For all the cheating Gupta did, Hansadutta filed a case against him and complained to the Bar association to get Fedorowsky disbarred as a Lawyer. We herewith like to warn all devotees not to give any money to Guptas KBI. He is a total Fraud. For verification anyone can contact Hansadutta via his email: on his internet web page.
A complaint to the Bar association against Mr. Fedorowsky has been filed.
Summary: Mr. Fedorowsky breached his duty by:
1) Disclosing confidential client information
2) Converting $100,000.00 in investment funds
3) Unilaterally taking $60,000.00 out of the settlement money
4) Adding a person to the action without full disclosure
5) Failing to advise his five clients of potential conflicts
6) Taking a position contrary to the interest of his client
7) Double billing(five clients) and charging an unconscionable fee ($644,051.28)
8) Breaching the terms of the fee agreement
9) Breaching his fiduciary duty as a trustee
10) Failing to give notices before entering into business relationship with clients.
- JOSEPH FEDOROWSKY -
Summaries from the California Bar Journal are based on discipline orders but are not the official records. Not all discipline actions have associated CBJ summaries. Copies of official attorney discipline records are available upon request.
June 18, 2004
JOSEPH FEDOROWSKY [#133200], 53, of Marina del Rey was suspended for six months, stayed, placed on two years of probation with an actual 30-day suspension and was ordered to take the MPRE within one year. The order took effect June 18, 2004.
Fedorowsky stipulated that he breached his fiduciary duty to an associate of his client by using some of the associate’s money for legal fees owed by the client.
He represented a defendant in a charitable trust matter that involved ownership and publication rights to the Hare Krishna movement’s spiritual texts. The texts originally were placed in a California charitable trust – the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust Inc. (BBTI) – by the founder of the movement. Fedorowsky represented an individual who claimed to be a trustee of the original trust.
To help with legal fees, the client’s associate and disciple entered into an investment contract with Fedorowsky providing him $100,000 to manage and invest. Under the investment contract, a specified portion of any profit earned by the investment would be used as partial payment of Fedorowsky’s legal fees.
Fedorowsky managed the money properly, with one exception, and he pursued the litigation diligently. However, the investment did not generate as much income as Fedorowsky and the investor had hoped, and the litigation became increasingly expensive.
As the case progressed, Fedorowsky understood both the client and the discipline/investor wanted him to continue his representation and he says they assured him additional funds would be made available. Based on those assurances, the client’s understanding the Fedorowsky needed at least partial payment of his fee, Fedorowsky came to understand that the investor had, in essence, altered their agreement in a way that allowed him to apply the $100,000 toward his fee. According to the stipulation, he had “a good faith, but unreasonable, belief that he was entitled to apply [the] $100,000 to the payment of his legal fees without written or express authorization.”
He settled the matter favorably, winning among other things payment of $350,000 for legal fees. $300,000 of that was received and transferred to a trust managed by Fedorowsky, the disciple who provided the $100,000 and others. Fedorowsky contends he was owed $600,000 in fees, but offered to take less because he considered his clients to be friends.
Over time, acrimony arose among the parties and Fedorowsky received nothing. The disciple demanded the return of the $100,000 which Fedorowsky refused, believing that reimbursement should have been obtained from the settlement trust. Fedorowsky sued his former client, the disciple and several others for his fees and was awarded more than $300,000 by an arbitration panel. At the time of the stipulation, he was still owed $92,000.
He stipulated that by taking the $100,000 and applying it to his client’s legal bill without the investor’s express authorization, he breached his fiduciary duty.
In mitigation, Fedorowsky had no record of discipline and he cooperated with the bar’s investigation.