Bikram Choudhury: Cops Hunt for Hot Yoga Founder?
Bikram Choudhury, owner of a global hot yoga empire, currently has a warrant out for his arrest. He has yet to pay the $6.8 million judgment he lost against Minakshi "Micki" Jafa-Bodden.
A former employee of Choudhury's, Jafa-Bodden claimed that the founder of Bikram yoga fired her after she refused to cover up yet another rape allegation.
"It's been a long road chasing this guy down," Jafa-Bodden's attorney, Aaron Osten, shared to the Washington Post. "I don't want to say it's done, but it's awfully close, because he's got nowhere else to go."
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Choudhury has faced a series of sexual assault claims through the years. In 2013, a Sarah Baughn filed a sexual harassment case against him. She claimed to have been attacked at the company's training program in 2008. Baughn was one of six people who filed a case against Bikram Yoga's founder.
Choudhury might have fled the state, as Carla Minnard, Jafa-Bodden's lawyer stated that they have managed to track his luxury cars being moved out of California. Last year, the yoga guru was believed to have fled the country. As of now, court orders in Nevada and Florida have been filed to prevent him from transferring property out of those states.
Choudhury, an Indian national who was raised in one of the country's poorest states, became a yoga champion in his twenties. Eventually, he made it out of his homeland, and he moved to Los Angeles in the '70s, and in '73, he opened his first hot yoga studio.
The small shop eventually gained popularity in L.A., gaining Hollywood celebrities' praise. A few celebrities who have adopted this health-loving practice are George Harrison, George Clooney, and Lady Gaga. The single hot yoga studio grew into a global brand, with 720 schools in 220 countries.
More updates should arrive soon.
