Millionaire Entrepreneur Arrested for Violating Probation in Domestic Violence Case in U.S.

Indian American serial entrepreneur Gurbaksh Chahal was taken into custody for violating his probation in a 2014 domestic violence case on Aug 31. He was ordered by the San Francisco Superior Court to immediately start serving his one-year sentence for the violation.

Chahal, 36, will have to serve a six-month detention, which is 50 percent of the sentence awarded to him originally in 2014, according to the San Francisco District Attorney’s office. Judge Tracie Brown gave the decision two years ago to revoke his probation after he allegedly abused another woman at his penthouse in 2016.

On Aug. 31, a tearful Chahal, who had been out on $250,000 bail, begged Brown to consider alternatives of sending him in custody but she remained unmoved about her decision.

Chahal wept as he read out his statement, saying, “I’ve done everything in my power to give back to society.” He added that his foundation has helped hundreds of people, including women and victims of domestic violence, IndiaWest reported.

Requesting the court for reconsidering the custody sentence, the serial entrepreneur said that his imprisonment will severely affect his family and business. “I desperately need my freedom,” he was quoted as saying by the publication.

Referring to Chahal’s tearful statement, the judge said, “I don’t think it demonstrates a great deal of regard for the victims in this case.”

The multimillionaire tech mogul, who was once named “America’s Most Eligible Bachelor” by the TV show Extra!,  was facing two domestic violence-related charges. The first complaint of domestic violence was registered against him by his former girlfriend in 2013, who submitted before the police that Chahal had hit, kicked and slapped her 117 times in two hours. She also said in her complaint that he attempted to strangulate her.

He was arrested in 2013 in San Francisco and was charged with 47 counts of felony. He pleaded guilty to two charges of battery and domestic violence, following which he was sentenced in 2014 to three-year probation and 25 hours of community service. He was also ordered to undergo a 52-week domestic violence rehabilitation program.

Later in 2014, another girlfriend of Chahal, a South Korean immigrant, went to the police and complained that he kicked her several times. She added that he was threatening her to tell the authorities about her fake marriage with another man for getting a green card.

The second attack happened while when he was on probation for the first case.

San Francisco Superior Court judge then cancelled his probation in 2016 and ordered him to serve 12 months in county jail. He appealed in the California Supreme Court against the ruling, which has now been rejected.

The second accuser never came to court during the hearing, as she returned to South Korea.

“Had the second accuser been found, Chahal would have faced domestic violence charges which impose a much higher sentence. We are satisfied with today’s outcome,” Max Szabo, a spokesman for the San Francisco District Attorney’s office, told the publication.