TORONTO, CANADA, December 22, 2005: Infighting at a Richmond Hill Hindu temple over who has legitimate control and suspicions over shady finances have led to regular disruptions of worship, two court cases and the freezing of the temple’s bank account. Two groups in the Maha Lakshmi Mandir temple, one headed by priest and President Swasti Dubey and the other by the board of Trustees, are both claiming they have a legitimate claim to run the temple and should have access to records, books and the bank account. Dubey’s group suspects that hundreds of thousands of dollars may be missing from the coffers, says Treasurer Dintie Persaud. They filed a lawsuit in August against four former officers to retrieve the financial records and books from 1992 through 2004 that could prove it. Latchman Budhai served as president of the temple from 1994 to 2003. He is named in Dubey’s lawsuit and maintains that the records are complete and the money is all there. “If anything is missing, it had to be them,” Budhai said. The Board of Trustees, two of whom were also part of the former management, filed their own lawsuit to have Dubey removed as president and power restored to them.
Persaud, who became the temple’s treasurer in June, believes that money went missing over the last decade under prior management. Based on annual fund raising, temple rental fees and donations, she estimates as much as a few hundred thousand dollars are unaccounted for. In November, the temple Board of Trustees called for elections and named new leaders. Dubey and his people continue to oversee the day-to-day- operations of the temple, but are constantly clashing with the leaders selected in the elections, said Persaud. Police had to intervene in the dispute over changing the locks. When the officials named in November went to the bank to switch over the account, the bank froze all activity until the leadership issue was sorted out. Altercations have also broken out at Sunday services more than once, and security guards are now stationed within the temple to maintain order. Both lawsuits in the meantime are languishing in the justice system.