Devoted centers require honest, Krishna conscious leaders; improper management of resources undermines the mission.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
Room Conversation — July 8, 1974, Los Angeles 740708R1-LOS ANGELES [07:52 Minutes] Conv_740708R1-LOS ANGELES __C-104 Prabhupāda: …Gopala. Gurukṛpā: Gopala? He left.
Prabhupāda: Why? Gurukṛpā: He was in māyā for a long time. He stole $6000 also. Devotee (2): No, he had twenty times that.
Gurukṛpā: He must have gotten more. That's all I know. He took from the bank. Devotee (2): He could have got the whole thing, right?
Gurukṛpā: He could have, but he couldn't, because it was in yen; he couldn't trade it in. But I had American money hidden for… Because we are foreigners, we must keep some American money, and he knew where it was, and he took $4000 of that. Plus I don't know how much more he took—at least $6000 though—and he left his tridaṇḍi. He was supposed to go to Korea and file for missionary visas, and I looked in his drawer in his files, and he had not gone.
But he had been away, and he came back and said that he went. So I took over all the money and everything, took over all the accounts, but I did not trust him because he was not chanting properly, and he was not Kṛṣṇa conscious. And then he snuck away.
Prabhupāda: This is the difficulty, out of sight. Devotee (2): Hm. Gurukṛpā: I think it had been planned, though, for some time. It was very planned.
Prabhupāda: Where he is now? Gurukṛpā: I don't know. He is a criminal. He has taken so much money.