OIF Update

As reported, according to a Swiss ruling the entire Foundation Board of Osho International Foundation was provisionally suspended. The 30 days granted for an appeal expire on July 2, 2014.

Meanwhile Viha Connection explains the case and proceedings:

On June 2, 2014 the Federal Supervisory Board for Foundations (ESA), an office of the Swiss Federal Department of Internal Affairs, decided to remove all current members of the board of OIF, Zurich, to freeze all bank accounts, and to forbid the former board members from interfering in any way with the operations of the foundation or the archives related to Osho’s work. The board members removed were Jayesh (Michael O’Byrne), Amrito (John Andrews), Yogendra (D’Arcy O’Byrne), Pramod (Klaus Steeg), and Rudolf Kocher [aka Premyogi].

Readers will remember that Osho International Foundation (OIF) in Zurich has claimed to own Osho’s copyrights and trademarks for His name. It operates the website www.osho.com and has a large Facebook page as well as a publishing operation in Europe. It has claimed to license copyrights to Osho’s work and trademarks for His name throughout the world. This Zurich-based foundation has no direct control over the operations in Pune, which is run by a completely unrelated Indian trust of the same name.

The ESA took this action because of strong evidence that: the board members

a) have been misappropriating funds from the foundation,
b) have conflicts of interest resulting from their positions in companies doing business with the foundation, and
c) have been operating the foundation in a fiscally irresponsible way for many years.

The ESA made this decision ex parte, meaning without a prior hearing, because it believed the board members would remove assets from the foundation. Half the liquid assets of the foundation were removed in 2013. The ESA also noted that OIF’s earlier production of an alleged Osho will, which three experts found to be forged, indicated a willingness to act illegally.

This decision means that the operations of the foundation are under the control of a government-appointed trustee until a new board is appointed. It also means that former agents of the foundation can no longer represent it unless authorized by the trustee. These include Niren (Philip Toelkes), an alleged legal representative; Vatayana (Ursula Hoess) and others who have claimed to represent the Zurich foundation through the Global Connections office in Pune; and Anunada (Ronald Tanner), who has acted as OIF’s accountant.

This action is not a criminal prosecution, but marks the beginning of an in-depth examination of OIF’s activities. Any evidence of criminal misconduct will be sent to prosecutors. The board members have 30 days to appeal to the Federal Administrative Court to seek reinstatement, but given the evidence presented by the ESA, it is believed unlikely the court would interfere with the its investigation.

For the full text of the decision go to www.facebook.com/osho.viha (11 June 2014)