Bikram Choudhury's luxury cars to be auctioned off to pay alleged sexual assault victims
The sales value for the seized luxury vehicles could be up to $1.5M
Disgraced yogi Bikram Choudhury’s luxury car collection has been seized by authorities and will be auctioned off to allow his alleged sexual assault victims and creditors to a sum of what they’re owed, a new report says.
The hot yoga teacher, who taught the likes of George Clooney and Madonna, fled the country escaping rape and sexual assault allegations from his former yogis leaving behind a stash of more than two dozen cars he hid and stored in a Miami warehouse in 2016, the New York Post reported.
Disgraced yogi Bikram Choudhury’s luxury car collection has been seized by authorities in an effort to pay back his alleged victims. (Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images)
Law enforcement seized Choudhury's cars in Miami last year, and the lot includes 12 Rolls Royces, five Bentleys, a 1966 Jaguar M10, a 1971 Pontiac Lemans, a Ford GT40, a 1969 Murano and a 1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1, in addition to six Mercedes-Benz and three Ferraris, according to court records as reported by the Post.
The estimated sales value is said to range from $800,000 to up to $1.5 million, and the cars are slated to be auctioned off in March at Palm Beach International Raceway with money from the sales being paid to some of Choudhury’s alleged sexual assault victims, the report said.
Choudhury in the Netflix documentary “Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator.” (Netflix).
Sexual assault allegations have been made against Choudhury since 2013 and surfaced globally in the Netflix documentary “Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator,” shedding light on the rise and fall of the embattled yoga instructor who made a future off of his trademarked Bikram hot yoga concept.
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While he was worshiped for the healing practice, which comprises a routine of 26 yoga poses done over 90 minutes in 105-degree heat, he cultivated an alleged cycle of sexual abuse. Women spoke out in a #MeToo-liked reckoning against him in the documentary, which aired in December. A number of yoga studios across the country have invested thousands of dollars to change their studio names to dissociate themselves from the embattled yogi.
NETFLIX’S ‘BIKRAM’ DOC PROMPTS HOT YOGA STUDIOS TO SPEND THOUSANDS ON RE-BRANDING
Choudhury hid his fancy cars from creditors, according to court papers. The luxury vehicles went missing when a Los Angeles jury ruled that Choudhury illegally fired Minakshi Jafa-Bodden, his former lawyer, after she looked into his alleged sexual assaults, the Post reported.
Choudhury filed for bankruptcy protection in 2017 when he was slammed with $16 million in legal judgments from accusers. As a result, Robbin Itkin, a trustee hired to handle Choudhury’s bankruptcy, plans to sell the cars at the auction to give back money to people owed, Itkin told the Post.
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At least eight women have accused Choudhury of harassment, sexual assault and rape. Choudhury has denied the allegations and has not faced criminal charges.