Marur built the temple, says his lawyer.
AB Wire
An Indian American man, who was the former director of the Paschima Kasi Sri Viswanatha Temple in Flint Township, Michigan, Hanumanthaiya Marur, 76, allegedly embezzled $400,000, according to authorities.
Marur led major renovations of the Hindu temple and embezzled the money while he was its director, reported the Associated Press.
The Flint Journal reported Marur was scheduled for trial in Genesee County Circuit Court on 21 counts of embezzlement and 16 counts of larceny.
Marur’s attorney, Michael Manley, says checks were reimbursement for work Marur did on the temple, including renovations in 2013. Manley says he wants to avoid trial and says he’s been in talks with the temple’s board and the prosecutor’s office.
“These are disputed claims. We have been working diligently with the temple’s board and their attorney, as well as the prosecutor’s office to come to an amicable resolution. It is our hope that temple politics will not spill into a courtroom,” Manley said.
Made of concrete and white limestone block, the temple stands 65 feet tall and is adorned with representations of 126 gods.
About 7,000 of the white limestone blocks were shipped from Canada and two craftsmen from India spent more than a year living at the temple and working on it, reported Mlive.com.
“The temple is God’s home,” Marur told The Flint Journal last year.
Detective Sgt. Mark Pendergraff with the Michigan State Police said his investigation revealed that Marur was writing checks to himself and his businesses from the temple’s account. He said his investigation into temple finances only went back six years due to the statute of limitations.
Pendergraff said Marur was the primary person in charge of Temple finances and allegedly used temple funds to write checks to his businesses and himself.
Manley said that in his 26 years of experience, these types of cases usually involve “poor record keeping more than theft,” and added that all the money Marur got from the temple was for legitimate work.
“All I know is, I see a beautiful temple that was built and it is our position that everything was authorized pursuant to temple rules and regulations,” Manley said. “It was never a secret that Mr. Marur built the temple.”
Manley said the issue now is that others in the temple are questioning the work that was done and the money that was paid for it.
“He did all the engineering, all the building, all the contracting – he was the one in charge of putting the temple out there,” Manley said. “To Monday morning quarterback – that’s what our issue is right now. So we’re trying to meet with them and trying to show them all the benefits that he did.”
Manley said it’s all about temple politics, according Mlive.com.
Marur is also a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed by the attorneys for the temple and its members. That case is on hold pending the outcome of the criminal case.
Marur believes a small group of people at the temple made the claims so that they could take over leadership positions in the temple, according to a response his attorney filed in the civil lawsuit.
Pendergraff said he believes it is much more than that, and said he followed the paper trails on several instances, even some prior to 2013 when renovations were done, where he believes Marur paid himself for illegitimate reasons.
He would not say how he believes Marur spent the money, citing the upcoming trial.
Marur also has another case open in Genesee County Circuit Court where last year, he pleaded no contest to two charges stemming from writing bad checks.
A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but is treated as such for the purposes of sentencing. Sentencing in that case is pending a resolution in the embezzlement and larceny case, court records show.
Marur is out on bond and has a GPS tether, court records show. He was ordered to not step foot on temple grounds, and to not have any contact with temple members.