TheCopenhagenPost
September 20th, 2015

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The case of a Danish man who claims to have been defrauded by a well-known yoga guru is making the headlines in India.

Allan Franklin Nielsen, who lives in Munkebo on Funen, alleges that Swami Shankarananda Giri, the spiritual leader of the Kriya Yoga centre in Bhuhaneswar in western India, has conned him out of 2.4 million kroner, India Today reports.

“I had met Giri in Copenhagen in Denmark during an international seminar in 1992,” Nielsen told India Today.

“I was impressed by him as he posed as a teacher of Kriya Yoga and I wanted to be a yogi. He played it very smart as he borrowed some 5,000 US dollars from me and then returned it on time. Later, I gave him 320,000 euros [about 2.4 million kroner], which he has not returned yet. I had lent that money on the promise that he was going to use it to set up a hospital and that he would return double the amount borrowed.”

Nielsen has been regularly flying between Denmark and India to attend court hearings since he first filed his case with the Cuttack High Court in 2010 but is dissatisfied with how the case has been dealt with.

“I have met with each and every police officer in Bhuhaneswar and have also submitted all evidence of Giri’s malpractices,” he said.

“I had to move to the high court when I saw that nothing was coming of the police inquiry.”

Feels let down
He is now appealing to Sushma Swaraj, the Indian minister of external affairs, for assistance.

“I am trying to fix an appointment with the external affairs minister but have not had much luck as her staff have been making false promises,” he said.

“I also tried to meet her at her residence yesterday [Saturday], but I was not successful. I have written to her narrating my tale and Giri’s fraudulent practices.”

Nielsen also feels let down by the Danish Embassy in India.

“I had approached the Danish Embassy, but they did not show any interest in pursuing the matter of helping me out with this case,” he said.