Motion for Writ in Vikki Hui Xin Han v. Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Monastery, Inc., Karma Kagyu Institute, Inc.| Trellis.Law

On March 23, 2022 a Exhibit,Appendix was filed involving a dispute between Vikki Hui Xin Han, and Karma Kagyu Institute, Inc., Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Monastery, Inc., for Other Matters - CPLR 3102(e) application for disclosure in the District Court of Delaware County.

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FILED: DELAWARE COUNTY CLERK 03/23/2022 02:50 PM INDEX NO. EF2022-182
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 33 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/23/2022

EXHIBIT 28
FILED: DELAWARE COUNTY CLERK 03/23/2022 02:50 PM INDEX NO. EF2022-182
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 33 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/23/2022

PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL

Sent via Email
to mperry@westsidefamilylaw.ca

February 23, 2022

Mark G. Perry
Westside Family Law
1367 W Broadway, Suite 504
Vancouver, BC
V6H 4A7

Vikki Hui Xin Han v. Ogyen Trinley Dorje et al.

Dear Mr. Perry:

We have been retained to represent Ms. Vikki Hui Xin Han in a New York action against Ogyen Trinley
Dorje (“Mr. Dorje”) and the entities that run Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Monastery and the Karme Ling
Retreat Center (the “Karme Ling Entities”). Ms. Han raises various state and federal claims against
Mr. Dorje and the Karme Ling Entities, all of which arise out of Mr. Dorje’s rape of Ms. Han.

I am enclosing a draft pre-action disclosure petition (the “Petition”), which we intend to file in the next
few weeks. The Petition requests discovery regarding the structure and finances of the Karme Ling Entities,
in part to ensure that Ms. Han’s federal complaint names the correct corporate defendants, alongside
Mr. Dorje.

Given your representation of Mr. Dorje in the ongoing Canadian family law proceedings, you are surely
aware of the rape that forms the basis of Ms. Han’s New York claims. In those proceedings, Ms. Han has
already described how Mr. Dorje cornered and assaulted her in a dormitory room on the Karme Ling
Retreat Center’s grounds. Once Mr. Dorje had trapped Ms. Han, he used his physical size and religious
stature to forcibly restrain and rape her.

Mr. Dorje’s behaviour was cold, calculated, and violent. Systemic abuse of Buddhist devotees such as
Ms. Han within the Karma Kagyu lineage was conspicuous and brazen, and Ms. Han’s federal complaint will
detail both this repeated misconduct and how the Karme Ling Entities failed to protect her from it.

We would appreciate if you could coordinate with your client to forward this letter on to the Karme Ling
Entities’ legal representatives.

Please confirm when you have shared this with your client and let us know who will be representing Mr.
Dorje in the New York matter. Our client reserves all rights.

Sincerely,

Dr. Ann Olivarius
Chair of the Executive Committee

Enclosures

cc: Ogyen Trinley Dorje
Lorne MacLean

Vikki Hui Xin Han v. Ogyen Trinley Dorje et al.
February 23, 2022
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SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF DELAWARE
--------------------------------------------------------------------X Index No.
In the Matter of the Petition of
VIKKI HUI XIN HAN
Petitioner
-against -
KARMA TRIYANA DHARMACHAKRA MONASTERY, INC,
& KARMA KAGYU INSTITUTE, INC.,
Respondents
--------------------------------------------------------------------X

I. INTRODUCTION
1. This proceeding is brought under Section 3102(c) of the New York Civil

Practice Law and Rules and seeks pre-action discovery from the respondents KARMA

TRIYANA DHARMACHAKRA MONASTERY, INC. (“KTD Monastery”), and KARMA

KAGYU INSTITUTE, INC. (“KKI”), together, “Respondents.” Petitioner brings this petition

for pre-action discovery against Respondents to obtain information necessary to the bringing

of an action against them and others whose identities are presently unknown.

2. Petitioner was a trainee nun at the Karme Ling Retreat Center in Delhi, New

York, when she was raped and impregnated by Ogyen Trinley Dorje, a high lama of the

Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism who is known as the “17th Gwalyang Karmapa.”

The retreat, which women in the Karma Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism was, upon

information and belief, owned, managed, operated, and financed by Respondents and/or their

related entities, among whom corporate formalities are disregarded.

3. Respondents primed Petitioner for rape by knowingly depriving her of sleep,

nutrition, and mental health support, while indoctrinating her in the belief that Dorje,

alongside the other “high lamas” and leaders within the Respondents’ entities, must be

unquestioningly obeyed. Respondents allowed Dorje access to Petitioner at their school

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despite knowing or having reason to know of his history of sexually abusing female devotees

at similar retreats.

4. Respondents benefitted financially from allowing Dorje to use their premises

as a stalking ground for his victims, as his relationship to the center they operated was an

important fundraising and publicity opportunity.

5. Upon information and belief, Respondents fail to respect corporate formalities

between themselves, Dorje, and related Karma Kagyu lineage entities. Respondents solicit

religious donations and then, on information and belief, commingle those funds between

corporate entities. Dorje then uses these corporate entities as his alter ego by, inter alia,

using corporate funds for his personal expenses.

6. Petitioner seeks pre-action discovery into the corporate structure and finances

of Respondents and their related entities to determine which corporate entities owned,

managed, operated, and financed the Karme Ling Retreat Center where Dorje raped

Petitioner. Petitioners thereby intend to determine which entities are proper defendants in a

suit for benefitting financially from trafficking in persons pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1593A et

seq., and which corporate veils should be pierced so that the assets controlled by Dorje are

properly included in civil rape claims against him.

II. PARTIES
7. Petitioner Vikki Hui Xin Han was born and raised in China. As an adult she

emigrated to Canada, where she is now a Canadian citizen and resident of Richmond, British

Columbia. She began practicing Buddhism at roughly the age of nineteen while still living in

China. After attending Karma Kagyu Tibetan Buddhist religious events in Germany, India,

and New York, Petitioner committed to a 39-month monastic training program at the Karme

Ling Retreat Center in Delhi, New York (“Karme Ling”). She lived at Karme Ling from

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August 14, 2016, through January 20, 2018. Dorje raped Petitioner in her Karme Ling

dormitory room on October 14, 2017.

8. Respondent KTD Monastery is a 501(c)(3) organization with a registered

address of 335 Mead Mountain Road, Woodstock, New York, 12498. On information and

belief, the entity is incorporated in the State of New York and is identified by the Internal

Revenue Service as a church, with Employer Identification Number 14-1579633. KTD

Monastery operates its principal place of business, a monastery that carries its name, in

Woodstock, New York. 1 KTD Monastery also operates the Karme Ling Retreat Center in

Delhi, New York where Petitioner attended her monastic retreat and was raped by Dorje. The

contract into which Petitioner entered to join the monastic training program was

countersigned by KTD Monastery. On information and belief, the same group of individual

directors runs many of the corporate entities affiliated with Karma Kagyu School’s United

States operations. On information and belief, these entities fund Dorje’s lavish lifestyle.

Within these United States Karma Kagyu School entities, corporate formalities are typically

disregarded, which helps them to disguise fund transfers and recruit donations for personal

use.

9. Respondent Karma Kagyu Institute, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization

incorporated in New York with a registered address of 352 Mead Mountain Road,

Woodstock, New York, 12498. On information and belief, Respondent Karma Kagyu

Institute, Inc. contributes to the management and operation of the KTD Monastery and the

Karme Ling Retreat Center. On information and belief, the same group of individual directors

runs many of the corporate entities affiliated with Karma Kagyu School’s United States

operations. On information and belief, these entities fund Dorje’s lavish lifestyle. Within

1
Matter of Comm. to Protect Overlook, Inc. v. Town of Woodstock Zoning Bd. of Appeals,
859 N.Y.S. 2d 893, 893, 2005 NY Slip Op 52352(U), ¶ 1 (Apr. 6, 2005).

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these United States Karma Kagyu School entities, corporate formalities are typically

disregarded, which helps them to disguise fund transfers and recruit donations for personal

use.

III. PETITIONER HAS A MERITORIOUS ACTION
10. A petition for pre-action discovery should only be granted when the petitioner

demonstrates that she has a meritorious cause of action and that the information sought is

material and necessary to the actionable wrong. (Matter of Uddin v. New York City Tr. Auth.,

27 AD3d 265, 266 [1st Dept 2006]).

11. Dorje raped Petitioner at Karme Ling in Delhi, New York. Petitioner seeks to

bring claims against Dorje for that rape, to pierce the corporate veil to reach the assets of

Respondents and/or their related entities in connection with that claim, and to bring claims

including benefiting financially from trafficking in persons against Respondents and/or their

related entities.

Rape in the First Degree, as defined by New York
Penal Law § 130.35, by Dorje,
Brought pursuant to New York Civil Practice Law & Rules § 213-c
12. On October 14, 2017, Dorje engaged in sexual intercourse by forcible

compulsion when he vaginally raped Petitioner in violation of New York Penal Law

§ 130.35.

13. Dorje employed forcible compulsion to rape Petitioner. Dorje used physical

force to assault Petitioner and complete his rape. Dorje utilized his physical size and strength

to pick up petite and thin Petitioner, place her in his lap, and violently rape her, causing

lacerations that bled. When he was done performing sexual acts without her consent, he

discarded Petitioner’s body back on the bedroom floor.

14. Dorje also used implied threats that placed her at risk of breaking samaya, a

Buddhist concept comparable to the Christian concept of eternal damnation that curses a

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disobedient student with generations of bad karma. When Dorje demanded that Petitioner

engage in sexual acts with him, he knew that she had been indoctrinated by Respondents with

the belief that disobeying his demands would laden her with generations of bad karma. In a

religious context that relies on reincarnation, rather than one life and death cycle, this was a

terrifying threat.

15. Dorje’s rape has caused Petitioner immense emotional distress, with effects

that will last throughout her lifetime. Petitioner also became pregnant as a result of the

assault, further exacerbating the distress and impact of the rape. During the assault, Petitioner

sustained physical injuries and bled. In the wake of the assault, she began to suffer from

symptoms of anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression. In her more depressed

moments, she began to hear auditory hallucinations. At times, she has been suicidal, and has

repeatedly called a suicide hotline for counseling. She has also suffered immense emotional

distress, humiliation, and mental anguish due to the sustained online campaigns to discredit

her orchestrated, upon information and belief, by Dorje.

16. As a result of these injuries, Petitioner seeks monetary damages in an amount

to be determined at trial.

17. As explained below, Petitioner seeks pre-action discovery to determine the

liability of Respondents and/or their related entities for these monetary damages.

Piercing the Corporate Veil
18. Petitioner seeks to have the corporate veil pierced and have the Court

disregard the corporate form as to Respondents and/or their related entities, and Dorje.

19. Upon information and belief, Respondents and/or their related entities, and

Dorje fail to adhere to corporate formalities by, inter alia, Karme Ling assets and using

corporate funds for personal use.

20. Dorje lives a lavish lifestyle and has paid Petitioner hundreds of thousands of

dollars in child support payments for the child resulting from his raping her, yet had
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professed under oath in a Canadian family law action that he has no income and almost zero

assets. Some of the payments to Petitioner were made through third party “disciples” who

work for or support Dorje. On information and belief, the use of third parties was intended to

disguise the source of the funds: religious donations funneled through Respondents or their

related entities. On information and belief, Dorje treats the bank accounts of Respondents

and/or their related entities as his private accounts, appropriating those funds for personal use

as he sees fit.

21. Dorje has been investigated and charged for secreting away undeclared cash in

India. The Indian police found more than $1,000,000 USD hidden at his temple. A judge

involved with the Indian case stated that the situation reeked of “money laundering.” Dorje’s

attorney asserted that the money came from religious donations.

22. Respondents and/or their related entities have, upon information and belief,

overlapping ownership and directorship, and share use of office space and equipment.

23. While New York does not recognize piercing the corporate veil as an

independent cause of action, 2 Petitioner seeks pre-action discovery to determine the potential

liability of Respondents and/or their related entities for monetary damages resulting from the

rape in the first degree perpetrated by Dorje, and thus whether they should be named as

defendants in such a case.

Federal Violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1595 by the
Respondents and/or their Related Entities: Benefitting
Financially from trafficking in persons pursuant to 18.U.S.C. § 1593A et seq.
24. Respondents and/or their related entities and Dorje formed a venture as

defined by 18 U.S.C. § 1591. Respondents and/or their related entities exist as Dorje’s North

American monastic seat. The Karme Ling Center was established by Dorje’s predecessor in

2
See Hart v Jassem, 43 AD3d 997, 998, 843 N.Y.S.2d 121 (2d Dept 2007).

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1976. Respondents and/or their related entities’ facilities have been publicly affiliated with

Dorje since he was crowned as the 17th Gwalyang Karmapa at the age of seven.

25. Respondents and/or their related entities knowingly benefited from

participation in this venture. They have received monetary value and publicity from Dorje’s

religious tours, visits to New York, speeches, and affiliation with their facilities. When Dorje

visited Delhi, New York, Respondents and/or their related entities publicized his visits widely

and hosted him without charging him a fee to stay or dine at their facilities. Dorje’s visits

were important fundraising and publicity opportunities for Respondents and/or their related

entities. The decision to host Dorje in 2017 was at least in part intended to lure monetary

donations.

26. Respondents and/or their related entities were on, at minimum, constructive

notice of Dorje’s sexual proclivities. In 2013, a Karma Kagyu teacher arranged for his

student, Ms. Huang, to begin providing regular cybersex to Dorje. Dorje also brought his

sexual partners, such as Ms. Hang-Yee, to dinner with him at Respondents and/or their

related entities’ facilities in New York. According to Ms. Hang-Yee, Dorje, even within his

inner circle, flaunted his sexual relationships with women. As the operators of Dorje’s North

American monastic seat, Respondents and/or their related entities should have been aware of

his pattern of sexual behavior.

27. Respondents and/or their related entities also had actual notice of systemic

sexual misconduct within the Karma Kagyu school and vulnerability of their trainee nuns to

sexual abuse. Upon information and belief, before Petitioner arrived at Karme Ling,

Respondents and/or their related entities were aware of public reports of sexual misconduct

within Tibetan Buddhist monasteries. Respondents also encouraged Petitioner to engage in

tantric mediation practices, ordinarily reserved for advanced practitioners of Buddhism. The

very nature of these practices—which encourage sexual visualizations as a secret method of

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spiritual advancement—would put a reasonable entity on notice of the risk of misuse or

misapplication of those principles.

28. Respondents and/or their related entities also had actual notice that Dorje had

taken a special interest in Petitioner. In July 2017, Dorje went into Petitioner’s room and

remained inside for a noticeable period, providing private blessings and spiritual advice.

Staff, trainee nuns, and attendees in the women’s quarters would likely have seen him enter

Petitioner’s room. Because men were not allowed in women’s dormitory room, this event

would have been noteworthy, even though the Karmapa functioned outside these rules

29. Despite this knowledge, Respondents and/or their related entities still assisted

Dorje in gaining access to the nuns’ residence hall in October 2017, where Dorje entered

Petitioner’s room and engaged in a nonconsensual commercial sex act with her. When Dorje

entered Petitioner’s room for a second time and remained therein, Respondents and/or their

related entities’ staff did not investigate. When Dorje exited Petitioner’s room after an

extended period inside it, with the door locked against protocols, Respondents and/or their

related entities’ staff did not investigate.

30. Respondents and/or their related entities continue to financially benefit from

their venture with Dorje today. A scandal or decrease in Dorje’s prestige would have caused

the financial donations that fund Respondents and/or their related entities’ facilities to dry up.

Instead of taking any preventative or investigative actions, Respondents and/or their related

entities have continued to harbor a sexual predator and whitewash Dorje’s pattern and

practice of misbehavior, as a means to reap the financial rewards of his worldwide brand

recognition. After the July 2017 visit, Respondents and/or their related entities did not warn

the trainee nuns to avoid being alone with Dorje or attempt to chaperone Dorje in the

women’s quarters. After the October 2017 visit, Respondents and/or their related entities

assisted Dorje in keeping the assault quiet. Today, Respondents and/or their related entities

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continue to associate themselves with Dorje, advertising his online teachings and prior visits

to their facilities.

31. As a direct and proximate result of the Respondents’ unlawful conduct as

alleged above, Petitioner suffered physical injury, pregnancy, severe emotional distress,

humiliation, embarrassment, mental and emotional distress and anxiety, economic harm and

other consequential damages.

IV. THE INFORMATION SOUGHT IS MATERIAL
AND NECESSARY TO THE ACTIONABLE WRONG
32. New York courts have consistently held that pre-action discovery is available

to determine who the defendants to an action should be. (Matter of Diaz v Metro. Tr. Auth.,

190 A.D.3d 734, 735 [2d Dept 2021]). Here, pre-action discovery is necessary for that reason.

33. Respondents’ corporate structure is complex and, upon information and belief,

made intentionally opaque to hide assets. Petitioner seeks pre-action discovery to determine

which legal entities are responsible for her injuries, whether wealth is improperly transferred

between these entities and others relating to the Karma Kagyu School, and whether, as is

believed, the corporate veil ought to be pierced to enable Petitioner to bring suit against, and

seek to recover against, the entities in which the assets reside.

34. Petitioner has several reasons for believing that the Karma Kagyu school fails

to adhere to corporate formalities, and that one or more related entities are proper in a suit for

benefitting financially from trafficking.

35. For example, while Respondent Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Inc. is

registered as a 501(c)(3) charity with the IRS, with an address listed in Woodstock, New

York, it is not listed as a New York registered charity on the Secretary of State’s website. 3

3
https://www.charitiesnys.com/RegistrySearch/search charities.jsp.

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36. Additionally, Dorje lives an extremely lavish lifestyle, yet professes not to

take a salary or have any assets to his name. Petitioner believes that Defendant uses

Respondents and/or related entities as his personal bank account, such that their funds are

fully commingled. Petitioner seeks discovery to determine whether, and which, corporate

entities would be financially liable for any award against the Karmapa.

V. THE INFORMATION SOUGHT
37. Petitioner seeks an order from this Court directing Respondents to provide to

the undersigned attorneys of Petitioner the following information:

(a) Documents sufficient to identify all entities which (1) own, (2) operate,

(3) manage, (4) fund, or (5) direct activity at the Karme Ling Retreat Center in

Delhi, New York, and the role played by each such entity.

(b) Documents sufficient to identify the corporate structure of

Respondents and all entities related to Respondents, including the ownership of

each entity.

to Petitioner, purportedly on Dorje’s behalf.

38. No prior application has been made for the relief sought in this petition.

WHEREFORE, Petitioner Vikki Han respectfully requests that this Court grant this petition

in its entirety, along with any other relief to which she is entitled.

Dated: Maidenhead, United Kingdom

February 23, 2022

/s/ DRAFT
McAllister Olivarius
Dr. Ann Olivarius
John F. O. McAllister
641 Lexington Ave, 13th Floor
New York, NY 10022
Telephone: (518) 633-4775

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Counsel To Plaintiff

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Case Info

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Brian D. Burns Track Judge’s New Case

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Document Filed Date

March 23, 2022

Case Filing Date

March 23, 2022

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Exhibit,Appendix: Vikki Hui Xin Han v. Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Monastery, Inc., Karma Kagyu Institute, Inc.

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