The heat clearly got to the founder of Bikram Yoga, who has been ordered by a judge to hand over “proceeds from his global fitness business to satisfy a $6.8 million judgment won by a former legal advisor,” reports the LA Times.

Born in Calcutta in 1944, Bikram Choudhury began practising yoga at the age of four. He then went on to develop the Bikram style of yoga that incorporates repeating 26 asanas – or positions – for 90 minutes in a room set at 40 degrees Celsius.

Although Choudhury is currently worth $74 million, last year he claimed that he is nearly bankrupt because his business is no longer thriving.

Here’s the man:

The warrant for his arrest was issued by LA County Superior Court Judge Edward Moreton, who set his bail at $8 million.

Here’s the scoop, from Daily Maverick:

Choudhury was sued in 2013 by his onetime legal adviser Minakshi “Mikki” Jafa-Bodden, who accused him of sexual harassment, saying he fired her after she refused to help him cover up allegations that he raped a yoga student.

Ordered to pay $6.47 million in punitive damages in January of last year, he fled California shortly after the verdict, Jafa-Bodden’s attorney, Carla Minnard, told AFP.

The guru — who had no attorney representing him in court Wednesday — first traveled to India and then Thailand and Japan before heading to Mexico, where he was served court papers in May, Minnard said.

“He is currently in Acapulco conducting teacher training classes,” she said. “Our intent is to have him arrested before he leaves Mexico.”

The 70-year-old Choudhury had managed to move some of his assets, including a fleet of luxury cars, to Nevada and Florida, but court orders were issued to prevent him moving property out of the country, Minnard said.

“We will keep pursuing him however long it takes, wherever it takes,” she said. “I don’t care where he goes, how much money it costs us, how many lawsuits we have to file, how many hundreds of hours we have to spend — we are going to collect on this judgment and see that Mikki gets justice.”

And people still wonder why I roll my eyes when they start preaching about how to live a better life.

Between Choudhury and that famous faux-vegan from New York, I have no time for “gurus”.

[source:dailymaverick&latimes]