Former Hindu Temple Leader Convicted of Defrauding Followers

The former leader of the now defunct Hindu Temple of Georgia was convicted Monday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta of defrauding his followers in a credit card scheme.

After a two-week jury trial, Annamalai Annamalai was convicted of 34 felony charges: bank fraud offenses, filing a false tax return, bankruptcy fraud offenses, money laundering, obstruction, false statement offenses, and conspiring to conceal a person from arrest.

Annamalai — also known as Dr. Commander Selvam and Swamiji Sri Selvam Siddhar — was accused of using his position to make multiple charges on his followers’ credit cards without their knowledge.

The temple, now bankrupt, was located on Brook Hollow Parkway in Norcross.

“This defendant traded on his perceived religious authority and spiritual powers to cheat the faithful who believed in him,” United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in a press release. “The jury saw through his deception, and he is being held accountable for his fraud.”

Annamalia charged fees to his followers for various spiritual services to their credit cards that were in excess of the agree-upon figures. If charges were disputed, he sent false information to the credit card companies to justify them.

The indictment also charged Annamalai used the defrauded money to fund a lifestyle for he and his family that included numerous homes and real properties, luxury vehicles, and foreign bank accounts in India.

Annamalai also was convicted for:

>> Filing a false tax return for 2007, for failing to disclose his financial interest in foreign bank accounts held in India.

>> Bankruptcy fraud in connection with the Hindu Temple of Georgia’s petition for bankruptcy protection in 2009, for concealing assets by diverting credit card receipts and donations intended for the temple to a bank account with a different name.

>> Money laundering, for using proceeds from the bankruptcy fraud to pay mortgages on properties that he owned, and payments to himself.

>> Three counts of obstruction and false statements in connection with the grand jury investigation and the bankruptcy proceeding.

>> Conspiring with his spouse and co-defendant, Parvathi Sivanadiyan, and others to conceal the arrest of co-defendant Kumar Chinnathambi.

Annamalai is expected to be sentenced in November.