Preetha Krishna – Wikipedia

Indian spiritual and philosophy teacher

Preetha Krishna (also known as Preetha Ji, Preetha ji, Preethaji and Krishnapreetha Ramabagavaddasa; born 2 December 1974 in Chennai^[1]) is the daughter-in-law of Indian godman and cult leader Kalki Bhagawan.^[2] She is the co-founder and vice-chairperson of White Lotus Conglomerate.

Education[edit]

Preetha Krishna attended the C.S.I. Ewart Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Chennai and received her Bachelor of Commerce^[1] at the Ethiraj College for Women in Chennai. She then pursued a Masters in Business Administration at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba, Australia.^[1] She also has masters in philosophy from Madurai Kamaraj University in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.^[1]

Teaching and wellness programs[edit]

In 2002 Preetha Krishna founded the Women’s Movement for the Golden Age in Bangalore.^[3] In 2009 along with her husband, N.K.V. Krishna, also known as ‘Krishnaji’, she co-founded One World Academy, a philosophy and meditation school in Kanchipuram,^[4] that later turned into O&O Academy.^[5] She led a morning staff meeting at William Morris Endeavor,^[6] two sessions at the Sun Valley Wellness Festival in Idaho.^[7] and was part of the 2nd Eurasian Women’s Forum, which took place in Saint Petersburg in September 2018.^[8] Preetha and N.K.V. Krishna consulted with life coach Tony Robbins on how they could promote their courses to westerners.^[9] Her husband claims to be a guru with 10 million followers in India.^[10]

White Lotus Conglomerate[edit]

Preetha Krishna is the daughter-in-law of businessman and spiritual teacher Vijay Kumar Naidu, also known as ‘Kalki Bhagawan’. Along with her husband, father-in-law and mother-in-law, she runs^[11] the White Lotus Conglomerate – an enterprise that includes real estate, property development, energy, media and sport.^[12] Preetha Krishna is co-founder and Vice Chairperson of White Lotus Conglomerate.^[13] In addition, she sits on the board of family businesses with names including Kosmik/Kosmic, Sacredbanyan, Transend, KPL, Bluewater, Golden Lotus, Goldenage, Chatrachaya, Yogi and Enlite.^[9] Many of these businesses exist only as mailing addresses.^[9] Preetha Krishna is a director of Kosmik Music and production company Kosmik Global Media, which owns the Bengaluru Bulls, a Pro Kabaddi League team.^[14][13]

The White Lotus Investment Group is based in Dubai, and has invested in The Pinnacle tower in Nairobi, the tallest in Africa, which is currently under construction.^[15] The Pinnacle is a joint venture between White Lotus, Jabavu Village and the Hass Petroleum Group.^[16] Between them, the White Lotus and Hass organisations are investing about US$200 million in the Pinnacle project.^[17] However, as of September 2019, construction of the Pinnacle had stalled.^[18][19] During 2019, the White Lotus Projects group was found to be in contempt of court for proceeding with the Pinnacle project in violation of two court orders issued in 2017.^[20]

The White Lotus Group owns the 1930s Redick Tower building in Lincoln, Nebraska which, after a $7 million re-development, it re-opened in 2010 as the Hotel Deco XV.^[21] The group has offices in Chicago and Omaha, Nebraska.^[22]

Income tax raids[edit]

In October 2019, the Income Tax Department raided about 40 premises associated with the White Lotus Conglomerate. During the raid, the department confiscated cash and gold approximately worth $12 Million USD and unaccounted cash receipts for the amount of $55 Million USD from the fiscal years 2014 and 2015 onwards, according to the Indian Ministry of Finance. The investigation is in progress.^[23] Preetha and her husband were questioned by the Income Tax Department. Krishna also runs several companies that are into real estate, construction, publishing and micro-finance.

The enforcement directorate registered a case against ‘Kalki’ Bhagawan and N.K.V. Krishna under the Foreign Exchange Management Act.^[24] The Madras High Court granted time for the Income Tax Department to file its counter affidavit to a writ petition preferred by Preetha Krishna against a ‘look out circular’ issued by the department preventing her from flying abroad without an Income Tax Department clearance certificate.^[25] Preetha Krishna’s request to travel to the USA and Ukraine was denied by the Income Tax Department assistant director K Mahadevan, who said that her presence would be necessary for the investigation.^[26]

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