Tulsi Gabbard and Chinese Influence: Risk of Overlapping PRC Gray Zone Threat Networks and Implications for National Security

by Dan Linnaeus (@DanLinnaeus)

Evidence of overlapping networks involving Tulsi Gabbard’s family and closest associates—spanning People’s Republic of China (PRC)-aligned entities that have faced formal indictments alleging illicit financial conduits, documented ties to alleged transnational criminal operations, suspected terror-related funding, and geopolitical influence linked to the PRC and other threat networks—warrants urgent and thorough examination in the context of her prospective appointment as Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

For decades, the Gabbards, including Tulsi, have been embedded within an intergenerational network that spans corporate and philanthropic entities. On the corporate side, this network includes Healthy’s Inc. (formerly Down to Earth Inc.), a company acquired in 2007 by the Hong Kong-based Qi Group with noteworthy ties to the PRC and its geopolitical agendas. On the nonprofit side, the network encompasses the Science of Identity Foundation (SIF), the Wai Lan Yoga Trust, and a series of political committees, charitable foundations and disregarded entities with links to the Gabbards and varying degrees of overlap with the Qi Group—notably its co-chairman, Joseph Bismark, a lifelong member of SIF initiated at age 17 by its founder, Chris Butler.[1]

Despite Tulsi’s public denials of involvement with SIF,[2] her formal involvement with key SIF individuals, such as its Vice President, and Qi Group’s Healthy’s executives, on the directorial boards of political and charitable entities, coupled with her family’s direct involvement in SIF’s operations, reflects the systemic integration of Gabbard and the Gabbard family into a broader network tied to the Qi Group and its chairmen. [3][4][5]

While questions of improper systemic overlap fall under the remit of compliance experts or regulatory authorities, the Qi Group’s acquisition of Healthy’s Inc.[6][7] —a PRC-aligned organization with demonstrable ties to Gabbard and her inner circles—raises serious concerns about potential foreign influence. The group’s alignment with PRC interests and its centrality as an axis connecting PRC-aligned interests with Gabbard and her inner networks, coupled with its operational opacity, expansive use of offshore networks and extensive history of legal and regulatory issues, underscores the importance of assessing its proximity to Gabbard for potential entanglements.

Tulsi’s embeddedness within such a network—improper or not—that may be steered by a potential foreign threat vector requires careful examination. Her prospective appointment to oversee U.S. intelligence operations presents inherent conflicts of interest that could undermines the impartiality of counterintelligence investigations and elevate the risk of U.S. exposure to malign foreign influence.

The U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) employs well-defined thresholds (e.g., reasonable basis, credible intelligence, pattern and trend analysis, etc,) to initiate investigations into foreign influence networks or cutouts. These thresholds are not predicated on proving guilt under legal standards such as preponderance of evidence or beyond a reasonable doubt but are instead based on the proactive identification of potential risks to U.S. national security. The Qi Group and its systemic ties to Gabbard and her inner circle prima facie exhibit features not inconsistent with a gray zone threat vector operating on behalf of PRC interests, displaying hallmarks of CI thresholds. Given the criticality of the DNI’s role, these entities and its networks warrant counterintelligence scrutiny.

As DNI, Gabbard would oversee the entire U.S. intelligence apparatus, including the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) and FBI counterintelligence divisions. This oversight involves directing and prioritizing resource allocation for collection and counterintelligence efforts. If her network meets CI investigative thresholds, it will create an inherent conflict of interest, compromising the IC’s independence and effectiveness. Gabbard cannot credibly oversee or direct investigations into herself, her family, and close associates—ties that span spousal, familial, and lifelong personal and professional relationships.

IC concerns of systemic conflicts of interest that may arise, or have arisen, during the confirmation process itself, warrant cautious scrutiny, as political sensitivities create a chilling effect within the IC, discouraging risk-proportionate investigations for fear of backlash. Historical examples of suppressed intelligence work during politically sensitive periods (e.g., Cold War-era counterintelligence efforts hampered by political interference) provide cautionary lessons. [8] Recent calls by former IC officials to confirm Gabbard as DNI (former NSA Robert O’Brien, former DNI Ric Grenell, et al.) [9] underscore politicization of the IC remains at the heart of the issue. 

Summary of Key Findings

Healthy’s Inc. (formerly Down to Earth, Inc.) and the Science of Identity Foundation share common roots and present a systemically overlapped network spanning consolidated assets, shared resources and leadership from inception. Public Land Court records acquired by researchers confirm that Carol Gabbard acted as Secretary and Treasurer for SIF, and reveal that Mike and Carol Gabbard personally guaranteed the 8 year lease for the foundation’s headquarter offices between 1996 and 2004.[10]

The Qi Group states that it acquired Healthy’s Inc in 2007, but publicly available evidence raises questions about earlier involvement, specifically surrounding significant restructuring of Healthy’s controlling interests in 2004. Concurrent transfers of Healthy’s shares to the Science of Identity Foundation (SIF) valued at fair market of almost $930,000 that year, coupled with significant fund flows in cash grants from the Wai Lan Yoga Trust, leave open questions about SIF and its founder wife’s role in the network’s acquisition. [11][12]

The Qi Group, a multinational corporation which publicly claims revenues in excess of $300 million per annum[13] , maintains strategic partnerships with China aligned forums and policy centers (WCEF, WEF, ASLI, KSI, ISI and others),[14][15] while its executive co-chair, Vijay Eswaran, promotes the PRC’s geoeconomic and geopolitical agendas.[16] Eswaran has participated in closed door meetings with senior CCP ministers, (e.g. former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang),[17] has ties to prominent policy formation leaders with strong relations with the CCP, particularly through the China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC),[18] and has contributed numerous publications advancing the PRC’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and related transcontinental geoeconomic projects critical to China’s geopolitical footprint[19] . Eswaran’s co-chair, Joseph Bismark, with lifelong ties to the Science of Identity Foundation has both demonstrable links and potential conduits of influence to Tulsi Gabbard and her inner circle, including campaign employees, senior staffers and her former Chief of Staff, Kainoa Penaroza. [20][21]

The Qi Group and its subsidiaries, such as QNET and Qatana[22] , which have operated or rebranded under numerous trade names such as Question International, Quest Net, Gold Quest, Silver Quest and numerous others, operate a complex web of offshore entities that complicate transparency and attribution significantly. This is exacerbated by the fact that they are banned in multiple jurisdictions pursuant to accusations of operating multi-level marketing (MLM), Ponzi, and money laundering schemes. Allegations against the group include links to terrorism financing, such as funneling money to the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) and supporting Zakir Naik—a banned Islamic preacher who founded Peace TV, prohibited in several countries for promoting violent extremism, and the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF). [23][24]

Since at least 2001, the Gabbards, including Mike, Carol and Tulsi have sat on the board of directors of political committees and charitable organizations with direct ties to leadership within Qi Group subsidiary, Healthy’s Inc. (Down to Earth), the Science of Identity Foundation (SIF) and related entities such as the Wai Lan Yoga Trust and its disregarded entities. Public records show numerous formal ties between associates of these entities and the Gabbards, including Tulsi, and her senior campaign personnel over the years.

Strategic Risks to National Security

Among the most exploitable entities for adversarial influence are insular high-control groups, which serve as strategic nodes for subversion due to their unique structural vulnerabilities. This threat vector is only exacerbated when such groups present foreign adversaries with opportunities for elite capture, especially with a prize individual like the prospective head of U.S. intelligence.

According to an unclassified National Intelligence Estimate issued last year (NIE 2024-16734-A), “great power competition and international relations generally will increasingly feature an array of hostile “gray zone” activities as China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia seek to challenge the United States and gain advantage over other countries through deliberate campaigns”. The NIE explains that “gray zone” activities comprise increasingly “well-honed tactics and exploit new domains within which attribution is more difficult and for which norms of behavior and accountability have not been sufficiently established or enforced.” [25]

In early 2023, International Coalition Against Illicit Economies (ICAIE) Board Member, John A. Cassara, published China – Specified Unlawful Activities: CCP Inc., Transnational Crime and Money Laundering, detailing the ways and means of the PRC’s leverage of illicit economies and gray zone threat networks. Cassara’s research estimates China spends north of $2 trillion per annum on transnational criminal enterprises to disrupt and complicate the U.S. global footprint as sentinel of global commerce and the rules-based order and advance its geopolitical and geoeconomic objectives.[26]

By October of 2024, Chairs, John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and Chinese Communist Party, sent a letter to Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury, expressing their “deep concern regarding Hong Kong’s increasing role as a financial hub for money laundering, sanctions evasion, and other illicit financial activities.”[27]

In January this year, following the New Orleans attacks, the Center of Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) conducted and interview with Assistant Secretary of Defense for SOLIC (Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict), Christopher Maier, on the future of irregular warfare. Maier notes, in alignment with a number of NIEs and USIC threat assessments, that the PRC’s is “much more discreet” in their malign influence and irregular warfare operations than its strategic partners, such as Iran, Russia, Qatar and others.[28]

However, recent revelations of previously undisclosed “gifts and contracts” from Chinese and Middle Eastern sources targeting U.S. higher education institutes and policy formation circles highlight efforts by foreign adversaries to skirt regulatory frameworks such as Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, which mandates reporting of foreign donations exceeding $250,000. These efforts target U.S. institutions for both technology transfer and ideological subversion.[29][30] PRC aligned networks such as the “Singham Network” have demonstrated that the PRC’s whole-of-society cognitive warfare operations aim at high-demand far-left progressive groups.[31]

A recently leaked classified addendum to Russia’s official Foreign Policy Concept outlines Moscow’s strategy to weaken its Western adversaries. The classified addendum, dated April 11, 2023, provided to The Washington Post by a European intelligence service, indicates that Russia’s Foreign Ministry is advocating for an “offensive information campaign” and other measures spanning military, economic, trade, and psychological spheres against a coalition of “unfriendly countries” led by the United States.[32] Key strategies outlined in the classified addendum include supporting isolationist and right-wing forces in the U.S. to destabilize its political landscape, facilitating the rise of extremist forces in Latin American countries to create regional instability and promoting sovereignty movements in European countries to weaken their economic ties with the U.S. among other strategies aligned with the USIC’s understanding of Soviet era “active measures.”

While the context of the U.S. presidential election cycle introduces layers of geostrategic complexities into state-actor calculus informing target selection, in the realm of state-scale cognitive domain operations, a strategic common denominator remains, “Heads I win, Tails you lose.” This presents a useful concept to keep in mind when thinking about both anti-imperialist narratives of transnational progressive movements of the Global South and paleoconservative non-interventionism of nationalist movements in Western countries. Both ideological domains present strategic opportunities for China, Russia and Iran to advance their shared objectives of a reduced Western footprint abroad, offering fertile ground for foreign malign influence operations designed to mount internal pressure in the U.S. and NATO member nations for reduced involvement in global affairs. By supporting both concurrently, adversaries attempt to attain more granular levels of control and influence within target societies.

It is therefore not surprising to find common threads so virulently advanced in both the anti-imperialist narratives and non-interventionist sentiments of closed groups. Characteristics typical of such groups on either side of the spectrum—such as strict internal loyalty, obedience to leadership, and susceptibility to manipulation—make them ideal targets for adversarial states like Russia, China, and Iran, in pursuit of advancing their geopolitical goals through active measures and irregular warfare. Hollowing out the sociopolitical center, targeting social stability, exploiting cleavages within Western societies through ideological niches to amplify discontent, discouraging cohesive foreign policymaking, eroding domestic consensus on international engagement, and fostering skepticism toward U.S.-led international frameworks all serve their agenda of reducing Western pressure and ensuring the regional maneuverability of hostile actors in pursuit of their own hegemonic designs.

Insular high-control groups such as SIF present strategically high-value targets for subversion and infiltration by foreign intelligence networks for several intrinsic factors. These groups often maintain strict internal loyalty and obedience to leadership, creating a pool of individuals who can be exploited for covert purposes once their leadership is influenced or infiltrated. Once successfully captured and converted into assets, leadership of such group’s can be effectively steered by adversaries to redirect the group’s energy toward actions that align with their goals, such as hostile influence campaigns, undermining stability or supporting espionage operations.

The concept of “Elite Capture,” whereby foreign adversaries seek to influence, subvert, or co-opt key individuals or groups—such as politicians, business leaders, or opinion shapers—within a target society, leveraging these assets within established influence conduits to advance hostile geopolitical or ideological goals, is particularly relevant when examining irregular warfare strategies in the context of individuals like Tulsi Gabbard, warranting cautious examination.

From a national security perspective, the primary concern is not whether Gabbard is a witting asset, nor whether the activities of her inner network and its overlaps are proper or improper. Rather, it is whether they intersect with malign actors tied to the PRC, the potential for a conflict of interest in Tulsi Gabbard’s appointment to DNI, and the risk of exposure to foreign malign influence and threat network infiltration into the USIC through her prospective appointment.

Implications for Tulsi Gabbard’s DNI Appointment

The systemic overlap between SIF and Healthy’s, rooted in intergenerational networks and Cold War-era ideological alignments, serves as the foundation for understanding how this network intersects with modern foreign influence risks, particularly as potentiated through the Qi Group acquisition of Healthy’s and its founder’s lifelong ties to SIF.

Given that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI’s) primary area of responsibility includes oversight of collection and counterintelligence efforts directed at threat networks challenging the national security interests of the U.S. and its allies, Tulsi Gabbard’s position within a closed network potentially under the sway of foreign malign influence tied to the PRC’s strategic gray zone activities poses an inherent risk of conflict of interest in her appointment to the role of DNI.

In light of these overlapping influences, a comprehensive review is essential to protect U.S. national security. Without a clear understanding of this network or its strategic influence footprint, Tulsi Gabbard’s appointment presents elevated risks of exposure to foreign threat networks and risks systemic conflicts of interest.

 
Network Mapping

Substantiations: Table of Contents and Key Findings of Fact

§1 SIF-Healthy’s Corporate-Philanthropy Model and Evidence of Systemic Overlap

Activities traced back to 1973 in conveyance and business registration records, reveal a tightly interlinked group of entities operated and influenced by overlapping directors and officers who held formal governance roles across the network’s nonprofit and for-profit structures. No single entity within this ecosystem presents independent functions—ownership, financial flows, and leadership blur the lines between them from inception. The Gabbard’s placement within this ecosystem, as illustrated by legal filings, demonstrates their central roles in the network’s operations since at least the early 90s. This alters the risk profile of the Qi Group’s acquisition, and shifts assessments of the USIC’s exposure to foreign malign network and the risk of elite capture considerably.

1.1 Mike and Carol Gabbard’s Role in the Science of Identity Foundation (SIF): Previously unreported public Land Court and corporate filings reveal that Mike and Carol Gabbard played central roles in SIF’s operations since the early 90s, encompassing formal positions and personal financial guarantees.

• Carol Gabbard served as Secretary and Treasurer of SIF from the early 1990s through the early 2000s.
• Land Court records reveal that Mike and Carol Gabbard personally guaranteed SIF’s 8 year lease for its headquarters at 169 Kukui Street, Honolulu, between 1996 and 2004.[33]

Carol’s formal role and Mike and Carol’s direct financial involvement ties the Gabbard family to SIF’s core operations, cementing Tulsi Gabbard’s inner circle as a node within the foundation’s influence footprint in the broader network.

1.2 Tulsi Gabbard’s Direct Involvement: Political Committees and Leadership Ties: Systemic connections extend beyond Mike and Carol Gabbard, encompassing key figures in various political committees and nonprofit organizations with formal ties to SIF and Healthy’s, in which Tulsi Gabbard has held formal roles since 2001.

• Alison Riggs: Former legislative aide to Mike Gabbard, later served as Public Policy & Government Relations Manager for Healthy’s Inc., a Qi Group subsidiary while concurrently holding leadership roles in political committees like Healthy Hawaii Coalition, Stand Up for America, co-founded by the Gabbards.
• Tara McLean (aka Tara Papish): A Vice President within SIF and co-director within the Gabbard’s political and charitable foundations, with business ties to Alison Riggs. McLean’s dual role within SIF and political committees illustrates operational overlap between nonprofit and political entities.
• Tulsi Gabbard: Sat on the board of directors as a co-founder and vice-president, alongside Mike and Carol Gabbard with Riggs and Mclean (Papish) in these entities between 2001 and 2024.[34]

Although a number of these entities have been terminated, longstanding overlapping roles across political, philanthropic and corporate ecosystem over the years further support systemic overlap between Healthy’s, SIF, the Gabbard’s political activities and Tulsi Gabbard.

1.3 Early History and Systemic Roots: Legacy operations and entities, spanning generational activism and ideological alignment raise concerns about the residual influence footprint of Soviet Era active measures and the acquisition of Cold War era networks by the PRC.

1.3.1 Social Roots and Shared Ideological Alignments: Cold War Era Networks

• Dr. Willis Butler and Professor Oliver M. Lee: Founded the Hawaii Committee to End the War in Vietnam. Their Cold War activism in support of Soviet aligned interests present a potential active measures network, with ties to Chinese diplomats and their families.[35]
• Butler v. United States (1973): Historical activities and ties between Dr. Butler and Professor Lee and the USIC counterintelligence efforts are examined through the arrest and court records of Dr. Butler and Professor Lee.[36]

The early alignment and activism of Chris Butler’s father and his associated network in the 60s and 70s illustrates the intergenerational nature of Chris Butler’s network as it emerges in the 70s to the backdrop of Cold War era hostile information efforts by major powers locked in great power competition to shape generational perceptions of world order.

1.3.2 Early Political Aspirations and the Emergence of Chris Butler’s Network

• ISKON and the IGG: Chris Butler’s early spiritual alignments with International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKON) and political activism through the Independents for Godly Government (IGG) party[37]
• John Moore, Chris Butler and SIF’s establishment: Documents acquired by the Washington Outsider Center for Information Warfare from October 1977 and July 1979 Name Change applications for SIF show Chris Butler as the foundation’s director with John Moore as the returning agent with board meetings held at Down to Earth, Inc.’s. founding store location.

This early documentation reveals shared resources at the network’s founding, overlapping leadership while presenting a brief profile of the network’s early political aspirations and corporate-philanthropy model.

1.3.3. Operational Structure and History of Overlap

• Legacy Entities: Recorded conveyance documents, public legal records and first hand interviews with leadership reveal Healthy’s and SIF legacy entities: JIVA LTD. and Hawaii Fresh Start.[38]
• Concurrent Incorporation and Shared Leadership: Healthy’s Inc and SIF, established a month apart by the same group of leaders as the IGG and legacy entities, represent a continuation of the network’s operations.
• Asset Consolidation, Shared Resources and Leadership: Previously unexamined public filings show the consolidation of assets and debt financing of these legacy entities as they were rolled into Down to Earth, Inc. (later renamed Healthy’s Inc), and the roles of overlapping leadership, and shared resources.
• Michael Adams: Public filings reveal the concurrent role of Micheal Adams as President and director at Down to Earth, Inc (later renamed Healthy’s Inc) and SIF.
• Sunil Khemaney: the Wai Lan Trust, Hong Kong Registered Entities and Tulsi Gabbard Campaign Finance Manager: 990 Filings reveal that Chris Butler’s wife, Wai Lana, a Chinese national and internationally acclaimed yoga sensation, furnished SIF with significant grants in the early 2000s, comprising approximately 10% of the trust’s gross receipts. Her co-trustee is Healthy’s executive director, Sunil Khemaney since 1988, and operates as the network’s global asset manager with directorial roles in multiple entities within the corporate philanthropic network. Wai Lana and Khemaney also co-directed Hong Kong registered Megastar World Trade Limited, tied to the larger network of ‘Megastar’ entities as revealed by offshore leaks. Tulsi Gabbard affectionately likened Sunil Khemaney to her uncle during her 2020 presidential bid in media interviews when asked about his involvement as a financial manager in her campaign.

Publicly uncovered filings demonstrate a clear pattern of systemic overlap between SIF and Healthy’s from its establishment through its formative years, spanning legacy entities, concurrent incorporation, the consolidation of shared assets, resources and debt financing vehicles, as well as dual leadership roles. This overlapping network’s global asset manager sits of Healthy’s Inc board of directors along Qi Group founders, Vijay Eswaran and Joseph Bismark, as well as their global asset manager, Shekhar Balasubramaniam, at the same time as having served as Tulsi Gabbard’s campaign finance manager during her 2020 presidential bid. This speaks directly to assessments of the Qi Group’s strategic influence footprint through the acquisition of Healthy’s Inc.

§2. Mapping the Qi Group’s Connections to Gabbard’s Network

Joseph Bismark, Qi Group co-founder, was initiated into the Science of Identity Foundation (SIF) in 1979 by Chris Butler. In a 2011 interview, Bismark publicly described his initiation by Chris Butler at age 17, reinforcing his deep-rooted affiliation with SIF.

Bismark owns multiple properties in Kailua, Hawaii, used by SIF and its members, including 1478 Akialoa Pl, Kailua, HI. This property was the registered business address of Tag Aloha LLC (2013–2017), co-owned by Alana Penaroza (married to Gabbard’s Chief of Staff, Kainoa Penaroza) and Ajita Das White.

Bismark was a partner in The Shangri-La Holdings Limited, alongside Allen Tibby. Tibby’s wife, Linda Tibby, was a Tulsi Gabbard campaign volunteer during her congressional run.

Allen Tibby was listed as “absconding” accused in a 2009 Chennai police chargesheet for his role in Pallava Resorts Pvt. Ltd., alleged to be a front for laundering illicit funds for Qi Group’s Indian subsidiary. The chargesheet states that Tibby helped purchase 43.7 acres of land to safeguard proceeds from QuestNet’s fraudulent MLM scheme.

Allen Tibby had business dealings with Andre Tumahai, a New Zealand national with long-standing ties to SIF. Tumahai and his wife co-owned Sunset Studios, an Australia-based production company associated with SIF, where Gabbard’s mother-in-law, Anya Anthony, is a registered agent. Andre Tumahai is also linked to Benjamin Tumahai, a Director, Treasurer, and Secretary of SIF.

§ 3 Risk of Foreign Influence

The timeline of Healthy’s acquisition, the Group’s financial footprint, its strategic partnerships with PRC-aligned policy formation circles, historical ties to PRC officials and its history of transcontinental legal and regulatory troubles require careful examination in the context of its acquisition of an overlapping network in which Tulsi Gabbard and her closest associates are or have been deeply embedded over the years.

3.1 Ownership and Influence Questions: Public filings raise concerns about the transparency of Healthy’s Inc.’s acquisition timeline, with significant shifts in control preceding the Qi Group’s official claims of ownership. The involvement of SIF and Wai Lana Trust in key financial transactions and reliance on a complex lattice of offshore entities further complicates discovery.

• 2007 Acquisition and 2004 Restructuring: The Qi Group claims it acquired Healthy’s in 2007, however annual reports do not list its directors on Healthy’s board until much later in 2015 and 2016, while public filings show that Healthy’s controlling interests shifted significantly in 2004.
• 2004 Restructuring and Asset Transfers: A 2004 stock split in Healthy’s Inc., shifted its controlling interests considerably. Concurrently, SIF received nearly $930,000 in Healthy’s shares, later sold under unrelated business taxable income (UBTI) in installments, as recorded in SIF’s IRS 990 filings.
• Wai Lana Trust Grants: 990 filings show that Wai Lana Trust distributed grants to SIF totaling $275,000–$400,000 annually during this period, in 2004 and 2005, representing almost 10% of the trust’s gross receipts at the time.
• Transparency and Gaps in Acquisition Timeline: These findings raise questions about the transparency of the Group’s operations, timeline of its acquisition and early influence on Healthy’s operations.
• Offshore Entities and Attribution: The Groups’ heavy reliance on an expansive and complex web of offshore entities coupled with these gaps complicate attribution and footprint assessments significantly, requiring intensive cooperation between OFAC and USIC counterintelligence agencies (NCSC, FBI, et al.)

Lack of transparency and timely disclosures coupled with significant shifts in controlling interests and substantial fund flows against the backdrop of complex and opaque offshore structures raise critical questions about the timeline and nature of the Qi Group’s control and influence within the Healthy’s-SIF-Wai Lana group of entities, complicating influence footprint assessments and attribution.

3.2 The Qi Group: Financial Footprint, PRC Alignment, and Alleged Transnational Criminal Operations: Established in 1998 by Vijay Eswaran and Joseph Bismark, the Qi Group operates a multinational conglomerate with reported annual revenues claimed to exceed $300 million and which open sources have cited as approaching $1 billion. According to the chief executive of its global asset management arm, Qi Capital, the conglomerate holds approximately $300 million in assets under management (AUM) across a widely diversified portfolio that includes Hawaii-based Healthy’s Inc.[39] The Qi Group’s primary areas of operation—spanning Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Oceania—historically align with regions critical to PRC geopolitical interests, particularly in the context of Belt and Road Initiative expansion. The convergence of the Group’s allegedly illicit financial activities and strategic partnerships with PRC geopolitical objectives present hallmarks of gray zone activities amplifying concerns about its potential role as a conduit for foreign malign influence.

3.2.1 Strategic Partnerships with PRC-Aligned Policy Circles and Forums: The Group maintains strategic partnerships with policy formation circles in the Indo-Pacific region, including Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ALSI) and Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific (KSI), and actively contributes to regional policy forums such as Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), World Chinese Economic Forum (WCEF), WEF New Champions and others, in alignment with Chinese geoeconomic interests and soft-power strategies.[40] The Qi Group’s key partnerships with platforms used by the PRC to cultivate international influence in emerging markets, and the Group chairman, Vijay Eswaran’s, official contributions in promoting Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) goals in the Indo-Pacific region underscore concerns for conduits of influence through its acquisitions.

3.2.2 History of Legal and Regulatory Challenges: It has also faced significant regulatory troubles over the years, banned in multiple jurisdictions and charged by various authorities for operating an alleged transnational criminal enterprise engaged in money laundering, MLM schemes and syndicated fraud. It’s chairmen, lead executives and associates have faced a number of arrests and criminal prosecutions over the years in several jurisdictions. Serious accusations have been levelled against the group over the years, including terror-related funding and other destabilizing activities. (Legal history across multiple jurisdictions).

• Banned Operations: Qi subsidiaries, including QNET, have been banned in numerous countries like India, Saudi Arabia, Rwanda, and Sri Lanka for operating alleged MLM and Ponzi schemes.[41][42]
• Money Laundering Allegations: Authorities have linked the Qi Group to cross-border financial crimes, including money laundering through its offshore entities.[43]
• Terror Financing Allegations: The Group has faced accusations of channeling funds to organizations like the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) and supporting sanctioned extremist figures such as Zakir Naik and his banned conduits of influence such as Peace TV and the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF).[44]
• Criminal Prosecutions: Leadership, including Vijay Eswaran and Joseph Bismark, and their lead executives and associates have been repeatedly arrested or charged in connection with the Group’s activities.[45][46]

The Qi Group’s legal and regulatory challenges across multiple jurisdictions highlight a consistent pattern of alleged misconduct, raising concerns about its operational integrity, its potential role in facilitating foreign malign influence and risk exposure to U.S. national security. The Group’s lack of transparency in financial dealings, obscured by a maze of offshore entities, its alignment with PRC-aligned policy formation circles and forums, and extensive regulatory violations paint a troubling picture of its role within Tulsi Gabbard’s network. These findings underscore the need for a comprehensive investigation into the risks posed by overlapping interests in this network and their implications for U.S. national security that requires extensive cooperation between OFAC and the USIC.

§4. Conclusion

The Qi Group’s acquisition of Healthy’s Inc. integrates a PRC-aligned entity with hallmark characteristics of a TCO engaged in gray zone activities into the Gabbard network, exacerbating elite capture risks and necessitating counterintelligence scrutiny.
The intersection of Cold War-era networks with modern PRC gray zone tactics suggests a need for greater intelligence oversight and risk assessment.
Tulsi Gabbard’s association with these overlapping networks presents national security concerns, particularly if appointed as Director of National Intelligence, due to potential conflicts of interest.
Sensationalist media coverage and politicization of national security matters both exacerbate appropriate scrutiny of these threat modalities and require reevaluation in the public’s interest.
Intelligence assessments of foreign malign influence networks must account for ideological and financial conduits embedded in long-standing ecosystems, not just direct affiliations. 

Section 1. SIF-Healthy’s Corporate-Philanthropy Model and Evidence of Systemic Overlap

The Science of Identity Foundation (SIF) and Healthy’s Inc. (formerly Down to Earth Inc.), alongside a network of affiliated nonprofit and corporate entities, reflects a long-standing corporate-philanthropy model defined by systemic overlap. Business registration records, legal conveyances, and governance filings dating back to 1973 demonstrate that these entities have functioned as a singular ecosystem rather than independent organizations.

The SIF-Healthy’s network is not merely associated with the Gabbard family—it is fundamentally structured as an integrated ecosystem from inception where financial flows, governance, operations and strategic influence present an inseparable network. The systemic overlap between nonprofit and for-profit operations, while not necessaril improper, establishes a pre-existing structural entanglement that predates and facilitates the Qi Group’s eventual acquisition of Healthy’s Inc.—an acquisition that brings additional layers of risk given its PRC-aligned interests.

Tulsi Gabbard’s direct involvement with SIF’s religious or ideological functions is a tertiary issue. Instead, the entire network of entities’ links from inception cast assessments of influence or foreign entanglement within a framework that cannot be separated from the collective structure in which she and her family are embedded. This poses critical risks in the context of elite capture and potential conduits of malign influence that require careful scrutiny.

1.1 Mike and Carol Gabbard’s Role in the Science of Identity Foundation (SIF)

Previously unreported evidence, available entirely in the public domain, reveals the Gabbard’s longstanding formal ties to the Science of Identity Foundation (SIF), systemic overlap between SIF and Healthy’s Inc. and the Gabbard family’s involvement with the network’s philanthropic and corporate entities.

Beginning in 1991, the Arizona Corporation Commission lists Carol Gabbard as Secretary of an SIF branch, established in the state of Arizona as a Foreign Nonprofit Corporation in March 1989. In March 1994 the Bureau of Conveyances of Hawaii recorded a commercial agreement for SIF’s premises at 169 South Kukui Street, Honolulu, with Carol Gabbard, the sole signatory, executing on behalf of SIF as Treasurer and Secretary. More notably, Land Court records in the state of Hawaii show that between 1996-2004 Carol and Mike Gabbard personally guaranteed SIF’s headquarter office premise at 169 Kukui St. Honolulu. Carol Gabbard is listed as the foundation’s Secretary and Treasurer in this document, and in the earlier 1994 estoppel document with respect to the same property.

This direct involvement in SIF’s operations reflects the systemic integration of the Gabbard family into its broader network, which extends to political committees and other entities.

1.2 Political Committees and Leadership Ties

Since at least 2001, the Gabbards, including Mike, Carol and Tulsi have sat on the board of directors of political committees and charitable organizations with direct ties to Qi Group subsidiary, Healthy’s Inc. (dba Down to Earth) and the Science of Identity Foundation (SIF).

For instance, Healthy Hawaii Coalition, founded in May of 2001 and dissolved over the Christmas break on December 26, 2024 comprised of Mike Gabbard as co-founder and president, Tulsi Gabbard as co-founder and vice president, and Carol Gabbard as director, included Mike Gabbard’s former legislative aide and finance manager, Alison Riggs, as co-director. Riggs concurrently served as an executive of Healthy’s Inc. in her capacity as Public Policy and Government Relations Manager. In this role, Riggs answered directly to Healthy’s board of directors, which included Qi Group’s chairmen, Vijay Eswaran and Joseph Bismark, and their global asset manager, Shekhar Balasubramaniam (Qi Capital, Healthy’s Inc. et al).

Allison Riggs, and the Gabbard’s also share a history of formal ties with Tara Mclean (aka Tara Papish), the Vice President of Science of Identity Foundation. Maclean (aka Papish) was co-owner with Riggs in a private enterprise, Showered in Flowers LLC (Company Number# 27895C5) between 2003 and 2007, and later in Gabbard founded non-profit Stand Up for America (2001) where both Riggs and Mclean (Papsih) served on the board of directors alongside the Gabbards, including Tulsi. The Aloha Parenting Project was another such philanthropic entity, where Riggs and Mclean (Papish) served on the board of directors alongside President Mike Gabbard, and Tulsi Gabbard, Vice President (Company Number 123503D2, incorporated 2008).

The repeated involvement of Tara McLean (Papish) in leadership roles across organizations like Stand Up for America and Aloha Parenting Project, alongside Gabbard family members, and her ties to Alison Riggs, support concerns of a systematic network. Both Stand Up for America and Aloha Parenting Project show minimal charitable activity, suggesting they may have been shell organizations with little independent operational purpose, with Riggs acting as a bridge to the Qi Group’s directors, and Mclean (Papish) acting as a bridge to SIF.

There exist numerous additional notable points of contact and formal involvements spanning the Healthy’s-SIF network intersecting with Tulsi Gabbard, her family and closest associates, but it is important to note the roots of the network to appreciate the significance and depth of these overlaps, especially in the context of assessing the viability of concessions to neutralize potential exposure of the USIC to threat networks as a result of Tulsi’s appointment.

*Note: Tara E Mclean is Tara Papish according to Hawaii’s Judiciary Information Management System, called the ecourt Kokua system according to 5 traffic related infractions listed there between 1996 and 2012 (see Party ID: @541285)

1.3 Early History and Systemic Roots

The roots of these overlapping networks trace back to Cold War era networks of the 1960s and 70s, suggesting that systemic integration has been a hallmark of these entities from their inception. Historical evidence highlights the consistent interplay between corporate and philanthropic initiatives, underpinned by shared leadership and ideological alignments, raising questions about Soviet era active measures and the acquisition of influence networks by threat actors aligned with modern adversaries.

1.3.1 Healthy’s and SIF’s Social Roots and Shared Ideological Alignments: Cold War Era Networks

Healthy’s and SIF share common roots tracing back to the early 70s and beyond. While the underlying group directly originates from high school friends of Chris Butler, the spiritual leader of SIF who was born in 1948 to antiwar-activist and local physician, Dr. Willis Butler (1918-2008), Dr. Butler’s own activism in the 60s brought him together with figures like Oliver M. Lee and presents an interesting case study in the evolution and transfer of communist-aligned Cold War era influence networks operating on U.S. soil.[47]

Lee, who had begun teaching at the University of Hawaii (UH) in 1963 was a prominent and controversial professor at the university, profiled by The Harvard Crimson in 2001.[48] Dr. Butler and Professor Lee met two years later in 1965, which led to their collaboration in the Hawaii Committee to End the War in Vietnam, a group they both helped found.

Shortly after Lee’s tenure in 1967, a controversy erupted concerning the Student Partisan Alliance (SPA), an anti-war student group for which Lee was the faculty advisor. The SPA distributed a flyer advocating that radicals join the military, sabotage operations, and “eliminate” officers, which led to his dismissal. Although Lee distanced himself from the language SPA used in their flyers, he defended the group’s right to free speech and a showdown ensued that would end in the university president’s resignation in protest over the Board of Regent’s eventual decision to reappoint Lee.

Born in Shanghai, Lee’s father was a Chinese diplomat, and his mother was German. His childhood was shaped by an international upbringing across China, Nazi Germany, Mauritius, and Iran. Lee left Nazi Germany at the age of five, moving to China just two years before World War II erupted. Notably, he would later recall that the Hitler’s Nazi Youth seemed to him like a “boy scout kind of thing” that refused him membership because of his Chinese ancestry. During the war, Lee would move to Mauritius, where he remained relatively safe. After the war, he spent a year in Iran, following his father.

In August 1972, accompanied by a group of demonstrators, Willis Butler and Oliver M. Lee went to protest Nixon’s Vietnam War policies during the President’s visit to Hickam Air Force Base. The group, which arrived in three cars, was detained at the gates, fingerprinted and photographed, by high-ranking Airforce base personnel. In the ensuing legal battle Butler v. United States (1973)[49] the plaintiffs alleged that a defendant in Willis Butler’s car, identified in the case as ‘John Doe I’ was an undercover agent reporting on their activities. They also alleged that John Does VI and VII were officers of United States Government agencies tasked with maintaining records on the plaintiffs (Willis Butler, et al.) in connection with the incident.

Both Butler and Lee were deeply critical of U.S. foreign policy framing U.S. actions in Vietnam and elsewhere as imperialistic. Lee, characterized as a radical Marxist sympathizer who openly sided with the Viet Cong, brought academic and ideological rigor to the movement. Butler, as a physician and community leader, brought moral authority and practical leadership to anti-war efforts, offering a platform of humanitarian and ethical objections to war. Dr. Willis Butler’s activism would shape his son Chris ‘Kris’ Butler and the founding ethos of SIF. Much like his father, Chris, who was in his 20s and leading the early makings of SIF’s network by then, sought to merge a mission of personal and societal well-being with political pursuits and activism.

1.3.2. Early Political Aspirations and the Emergence of Chris Butler’s Network

As for Chris Butler group’s widely publicized early alignment with the Hare Krishna movement, this naturally complimented the corporate philanthropy model they adopted for their enterprise. SIF promotes mental and spiritual well-being through yoga, meditation and spiritual practice, while Healthy’s promotes physical well-being through natural or health-oriented products. Both reflect the principles of holistic living—mind, body, and spirit—taught by Gaudiya Vaishnavism, a tradition rooted in the ancient teachings of Hinduism. In a profile piece on the group in 1977, co-founder, John Moore, told Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Walter Wright, “The ideal from the beginning was to be able to support yourself simply while doing a service for the community and to turn people onto an awareness of Krishna.”[50] But this affiliation would come with costs for the group.

The early SIF and Healthy’s founders had run for political offices in 1976 under their newly formed party, the Independents of Godly Government (IGG). Speaking with the press after learning that the Honolulu Star Advertiser intended to publish a series of articles detailing their affiliations with the Hare Krishna movement, John Moore, the party’s spokesperson, revealed, “During the campaign it was part of our political paranoia. We were afraid there would be some attempt to link us.” The group’s anxiety over the risks their spiritual dispositions posed to their political ambitions at the time was detailed with direct quotes in Walter Wright’s three-part series for the paper in August 1977, in a mixture of insightful historical details and at-times sensational commentary.

Notably, in personal interviews with the Star-Advertiser members of the group revealed the decision-making process over their collective’s identity. Among them, a yoga instructor and wife to a prominent Healthy’s founder, Lawrence J. Olsen, was an early success story in her own right in the group’s foray into Hawaii politics with the IGG. Katherine ‘Kathy’ Hoshijo shared, “At first, someone suggested Independents for Moral Government but we felt morality springs from a deep relationship with God.” Hoshijo also revealed that the group had ruled out any reference to Krishna in their political movement and were considering renaming IGG to the “Aloha Party” in an effort to secure broader support. In October, just two months after the series of articles was published, the group amended SIF’s original name, Hare Name Society, to Holy Name Foundation, before finally settling on Science of Identity Foundation, in July 1979.

1.3.3. Healthy’s-SIF Operational Structure and History of Systemic Overlap

Incorporated a month apart in early 1977, Healthy’s, Inc. (doing business under its founding name, Down to Earth, Inc.) and SIF (operating under its registered name, Hare Name Society) represent the continuation of a philanthropic corporate enterprise engaged in retail, agricultural, and publishing activities. These activities were managed or influenced by overlapping directors and officers who held formal governance roles across both nonprofit and for-profit structures, evolving foundationally from two earlier operations—Hawaii Fresh Start and JIVA, LTD. These legacy entities were established by the same group of founders, including Chris Butler (the spiritual leader and founder of SIF) and John Moore. For instance, Healthy’s founding President, John Moore, is also listed as the registered agent on SIF’s articles of incorporation.

Both predecessor organizations shared offices at 1910 Vineyard Street in Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii, premises that served as a joint operational hub for business and community activities from 1973 through 1994 for both SIF and Healthy’s. Assets and liabilities from these and related entities were initially consolidated under JIVA LTD, and subsequently transferred to Down to Earth shortly after its incorporation (e.g., property conveyance recorded at Liber 11959 Page 152, Doc #111959151). These properties which had been leveraged for financing Healthy’s operations and previously mortgaged by Jiva Ltd. and Hawaii Fresh Start, the legacy social enterprises to Healthly’s and SIF, were personally guaranteed by the same group of founders, (e.g. Document # 111959151 1/14/1977 ASSIGNMENT OF AGM OF SALE). John Moore as Vice President and Treasurer of both Hawaii Fresh Start and Jiva Ltd. oversaw the transfer of these assets and debt between them initially, and to Down to Earth, Inc. during its foundational period.

Michael Adams, who served as SIF Treasurer in 1977 and assumed the role of SIF President by 1979, also became President of Down to Earth, Inc. (Healthy’s) that year after a series of deals gone awry under John Moore’s leadership, as indicated in public records, such as Down to Earth’s UCC Financing Statement dated June 13, 1979 (Liber 13763 Page 499) and SIF’s filed amendments with the Honolulu Business registration Divisions, (see https://hbe.ehawaii.gov/documents/business.html?fileNumber=33120D2&view=documents).

At 99-994 Iwaena St. in Aiea, Down to Earth, Inc. leased and shared logistical and operational resources with a likely disregarded entity of Chris Butler’s wife, Wai Lana Butler, nonprofit East West Yoga Foundation where Chris Butler was also a director. In 1987, Down to Earth sold video production equipment listed as worth over $73,000, stored at this location, to SIF, recorded in a Bill of Sale, (Hawaii Bureau of Conveyances, Document Number 87-170861 Liber 21318 Page 599, November 10, 1987).

In the 90s, John Moore’s family member, Christina Stuart Moore, became the Director of Healthy’s and Healthy’s Investments, Inc. Another former Healthy’s president, Michael Henrietta who served as President in the 80s and directed the company’s California branch between 1990-96, subsequently served on the board of directors with Chris Butler and his wife, Wai Lana, in a yoga franchise called the East West Yoga Foundation in the 90s and 2000s.

Sunil Khemaney is co-trustee with Chris Butler’s wife, Wai Lana, in the Wai Lana Yoga Trust while serving as an executive director at Healthy’s since 1988. Khemaney sits on the board of directors of Healthy’s and subsidiary organizations of both Healthy’s and SIF in Hong Kong, New Zealand, and across the U.S., functionally serving as a global asset manager for the shared network of operations. He was also the man Tulsi Gabbard affectionately likened to an uncle during her 2020 presidential bid in media interviews when asked about his involvement as a financial manager in her campaign.[51]

In sum, a body of publicly available records show interlinked subsidiaries, directorial, managerial and staffing overlaps or revolving doors, grants, asset purchases, shared resources and exchanges of services, providing a body of evidence to suggest systemic overlap between SIF and Healthy’s from their inception, be they proper or otherwise. The entanglement of nonprofit, corporate, and political operations within this structure makes it impossible to assess any single entity’s activities in isolation—reinforcing the need for a systemic evaluation of how influence is exerted across the entire network.

Foreign acquisition of one part of the network (Healthy’s Inc.) inherently influences the entire structure, given its historical entanglement with SIF and its affiliated organizations. in his capacity as Healthy’s board chair, Joseph Bismark, a lifelong SIF member, now oversees the corporate arm (Healthy’s Inc.) within the Qi Group, alongside his executive co-chair in the Qi Group, Vijay Eswaran with a history PRC-aligned activities and ties. These direct roles at the intersection of SIF and the Qi Group compounds concerns about external influence.

The implications of such overlap for Tulsi Gabbard’s appointment to DNI revolve around the risk of elite capture and conduits of influence via the Qi Group’s acquisition of Healthy’s Inc.

 
Section 2. Mapping the Qi Group’s Connections to Gabbard’s Network

According to Eswaran’s co-chair, Joseph Bismark, he was initiated in 1979 at 17 by Chris Butler, the founder and spiritual leader of SIF (Science of Identity Foundation). Bismark’s relative, Socorro Bismark, is the CEO of SIF Care, a trade name of SIF operating under the Philippines SIF branch, established by Chris Butler in December of 1978 (SEC # 0000083212).

Above: SIF Care CEO, Socorro Bismark delivers a keynote speech in the Philippines

 
Property records list Joseph Bismark as the owner of residences in Kailua, Hawaii, utilized by Chris Butler, SIF, and his followers, including Tulsi Gabbard’s senior staffer, Alana Penaroza, married to Gabbard’s Chief of Staff, Kainoa Penaroza.

Among these properties, 1478 Akialoa Pl, Kailua, HI, was purchased by Bismark for 1.5m cash, in 2011 and utilized as the registered business address of Tag Aloha LLC (Company number 107909 C5) between 2013-2017, owned and operated by Ajita Das white and Alana Penaroza, and as the place of residence of Ajita White and his wife, Manjari Dasi White, (Doc # 2011-168331, Tax ID (TMK) (1) 4-2-087-042, State Of Hawaii Bureau Of Conveyances, Recorded Oct 14, 2011).

White and Tulsi Gabbard’s second husband, Abraham Williams, worked on Tulsi Gabbard’s 2020 presidential campaign.

Bismark was also a partner of Allen Tibby in The Shangri-La Holdings Limited registered in New Zealand, whose wife Linda Tibby was interviewed by the Honolulu Star Advertiser in their 2012 profile piece title “Isle-Women in the Spotlight,” describing her campaign efforts canvasing door to door for Tulsi Gabbard during her congressional run.[52]

When in 2009, Chennai police released a 55,000 page chargesheet comprising thousands of complaints pursuant to a 3 year investigation, it listed Tibby as an absconding accused for his role as a director of Pallava Resorts Pvt. Ltd., a company authorities alleged was established to facilitate the laundering of funds derived from a money circulation scheme run by the Qi Group’s subsidiary, QuestNet Enterprises India Pvt. Ltd. Tibby, along with other directors, was accused of negotiating the sale of large parcels of land totaling 43.70 acres, valued at approximately ₹13.17 crores (₹131.7 million) to funnel and diversify illicit funds earned through QuestNet’s allegedly fraudulent multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme. Authorities state that these funds were used to acquire property and safeguard assets.

Prior to 2017 Allen Tibby had a long history of working with an Australian national named Andre Tumahai at a network of related entities registered in New Zealand. Andrey and his wife Prudence Tumahai are listed as general partners in Australia-based Sunset Studios, LLC, a production company with a long-standing association with SIF, where Tulsi Gabbard’s mother-in-law, Anya Anthony, is listed as a registered agent. Notably, Andre shares a familial tie with Benjamin Tumahai who serves as a Director, Treasurer and Secretary of SIF.

Above: November 9, 2011, Joseph Bismark on Tuesdays with Marybeth Nave, DZRJ-AM (Part 1): “I met my spiritual master around 1979. He is a disciple of the late Bhaktivedanta Swami, the founder of the Hare Krishna movement. I met him when I was about 17 and began my spiritual education under his guidance. I took initiation from him, which is why I have the name Japa Das.”

Section 3. Risk of Foreign Influence

3.1. Ownership and Influence Questions

The corporate side of this overlapping network, Healthy’s Inc, was officially acquired by the Group of companies in 2007 according to the Hong Kong-based multinational conglomerate’s own public statements. However, the Group’s co-chairmen, Vijay Eswaran and Joseph Bismark, and their global asset manager, Shekhar Balasubramaniam, were not listed on Healthy’s annual reports until 2015 and 2016.

Notably, Healthy’s underwent a significant shift in ownership interest in 2004, and given these prolonged delays in public disclosures and the significant restructuring and asset transfers of 2004 within the network there is legitimate reason to inquire whether the Qi Group or it’s directors were involved much earlier in Healthy’s acquisition, and how SIF and the non-profit side of the network may have been linked to this shift in controlling interests.

The pivotal corporate restructuring of Healthy’s in 2004 shifted control of its shares and voting power. That year its 50,000 Common Stock was split into 50,000 Series A and 50,000 Series B shares. The two series were structured with parity value save for 10 times voting power for the Series A shares. 17,500 Series A were disbursed in this restructuring, contrasting with the 27,500 outstanding common stock prior to the split. This effectively resulted in 175,000 voting shares being distributed marking a significant shift in controlling interests of the corporation.

That year, SIF reported receiving nearly $930,000 in Healthy’s shares, which it subsequently sold in installments under unrelated business taxable income (UBTI) as revealed in its 990 IRS filings. While the Qi Group officially claims its acquisition of Healthy’s took place in 2007, the earlier restructuring raises questions about the Qi Group’s involvement prior to that date and how the nonprofit side of the network may have intersected with this shift in control.[54]

Concurrently, SIF received approximately $275,000 in cash grants from the founder wife’s foundation, Wai Lan Yoga Trust, approximately 10% of Wai Lana trust’s gross receipts that year. Notably, Wai Lana, a Chinese national, internationally acclaimed for her yoga teachings and videos, is co-trustee with Sunil Khemaney.

 
3.2 The Qi Group: Financial Footprint, PRC Alignment, and Alleged Transnational Criminal Operations

Headquartered in Hong Kong, with main offices in Singapore and Malaysia, the QI Group of companies (OCH Club, GoldQuest, QNet, Qatana, V-Dimensions, et al.) in a multinational conglomerate with over $200 million in AUM and revenues exceeding $300 million per annum. It has strategic partnerships with key policy formation circles aligned with the CCP, and maintains conduits with PRC institutions and political leadership. The Group’s operations have been banned in multiple jurisdictions and indicted by regional and national authorities for operating an alleged transnational criminal enterprise, now facing, or having faced in the past, money laundering, syndicated fraud charges and public accusations of support for terror-related threat actors, with dozens of its associates, including founders, directors, executives, employees and associated representatives arrested and charged for illicit activities over the years.

3.2.1. The Qi Group’s Financial Footprint

According to Shekhar Balasubramaniam, the Chief Investment Officer at Qi Asset Management Ltd and Chief Executive Officer of Qi Capital, the global asset management arms of the Qi Group of companies, the multinational conglomerate holds over $200 million in assets under management (AUM) across a widely diversified portfolio that includes Hawaii-based Healthy’s Inc. With revenues exceeding $300 million the Group manages a presence in more than 30 countries with a global workforce of approximately 2,200.[56][57] Assessments of its range of financial activities are considerably complicated by the Groups obscure network of offshore entities.

3.2.2 Strategic Partnerships with PRC-Aligned Forums and Objectives

The QI Group’s leadership and its activities are significantly intertwined with forums and initiatives that align with China’s broader geopolitical and geoeconomic objectives, primarily through engagements with ASEAN and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The Group, its Executive Chairman, Vijay Eswaran, and leading executives such as Donna Marie Imson, play notable roles through the Qi Group’s strategic partnerships in events such as the ASEAN Leadership Forum through its partnership with the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI), and in other key policy formation events which bring together political, academic, and business leaders.

Qi Group maintains a handful of such key strategic partnerships with policy formulation circles, including the Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific (KSI), an independent, non-profit think tank based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Established in late 2018, KSI is connected through its President, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, to the World Chinese Economic Forum (WCEF) where Yeoh serves as the Organizing Chairman with the event’s organizers, the International Strategy Institute (ISI), another Malaysia-based think tank operating in tandem with China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC). The ISI and KSI organize and host numerous prominent initiatives such as the Global Chinese Economic & Technology Summit. (KSI principal Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, International Strategy Institute (ISI), World Chinese Economic Forum (WCEF), China Development Institute, Global Chinese Economic & Technology Summit). These forums focus on regional cooperation and policy alignment around economic and political challenges.

Established in 1967, in Bangkok, Thailand, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional intergovernmental organization that promotes political, economic, and cultural cooperation among its member states in Southeast Asia, founded by Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. ASEAN is a key player in global geopolitics and economics, serving as a bridge between the major powers in the Asia-Pacific region. It collaborates with external partners, including China, the United States, and the European Union, through dialogues and free trade agreements.

As ASEAN’s largest trading partner, China leverages economic incentives, strategic partnerships, and regional frameworks to align ASEAN’s policies and actions with its objectives. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), launched in 2020 and championed by Beijing, has strengthened trade ties in recent years, aligning the region’s economic policies with China’s interests. RCEP is the world’s largest trade agreement, covering 30% of global GDP, 30% of the global population and 28% of global trade. It reduces tariffs, streamlines member state trade regulations, and promotes regional economic integration.

China funds major infrastructure projects in ASEAN countries through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), fostering economic dependencies and expanding its regional influence. This includes the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) in Malaysia and the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Rail in Indonesia, initiatives which Eswaran and Qi Group representatives have publicly endorsed.[58] These initiatives are framed as vital for enhancing regional connectivity, while aligning with the BRI’s goals and China’s strategies to bolster its geostrategic footprint.

Since its 1998 establishment, the Qi Group’s operational focus has concentrated in areas of strategic value to the PRC: for example, in the Near and Middle East, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey, Iran; in Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt; in Asia, India, Pakistan, Albania, the Philippines, among dozens of other countries where China has focused geoeconomic interests.

The Qi Group chairman’s prominent role as a speaker and contributor at PRC-aligned forums, his publications promoting PRC soft-power narratives, and his access to CCP officials highlight the Group’s ability to leverage Chinese influence.[60] These connections may compliment its history of avoiding prosecution in regions where the PRC exerts political control.

It is noteworthy that Qi Group’s subsidiary, QNET, was awarded licensing as official vendors of 2008 Beijing Olympics medallions for 3 years in a row, considering both that Xi Jinping was the Olympics’ committee chairman in 2008, and the licensing took place during a period when the Qi Group faced mounting regulatory and legal challenges.

The QI Group’s checkered history of legal travails, extensive operations in China and territories within its sphere of influence suggest tacit approval from CCP authorities, as the MLM sector is highly regulated and has a documented record in the intelligence community of being leveraged by the CCP to advance its domestic and international agendas.

A body of evidence raises concerns that the QI Group has received cover from prosecutions via Chinese influence. For instance, in April 2006 Judge Vargas of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court of the Philippines, issued arrest warrants that led to Interpol Red Notices and the detentions of Bismark, Eswaran and three additional executives of the Group in Indonesia after Indonesia’s former president alerted authorities to their presence in the country. The charges were subsequently dismissed by the Philippine Department of Justice under unusual circumstances which the complainants strenuously objected violated due process. The leadership of the Philippines DOJ, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, was a known ally of then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Gonazalez had supported her through the much publicized Hello Garci scandal which revolved around leaked recordings of phone calls between former President Arroyo and then-election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, supposedly discussing rigging the 2004 national election results.

At the time, the PRC had significant projects and contracts under the purview of former Filipino president Arroyo who was known for fostering strong economic and diplomatic relations with China. Often positioning her administration as a “bridge” between China and the Philippines, large-scale investments and infrastructure projects were secured, including high-profile agreements such as the NBN-ZTE broadband deal and the Joint Maritime Seismic Undertaking (JMSU), underscoring her administration’s receptiveness to Chinese interests amidst allegations of constitutional violations and corruption. During Arroyo’s term, critics alleged that her administration’s decisions were increasingly influenced by the desire to maintain favorable ties with Beijing. This included accommodating Chinese investments and adopting policies that aligned with Chinese strategic interests in the region. The handling of the GoldQuest case fueled public skepticism about the impartiality of justice during Arroyo’s presidency. Combined with other controversies of the era, such as the NBN-ZTE deal and extrajudicial killings, it reinforced a narrative of selective justice and erosion of institutional independence under Arroyo’s leadership.

3.2.3 Qi Group’s History of Legal and Regulatory Troubles

In 2011 interviews, Joseph Bismark described his recruitment into MLMs by his partner, Malaysian national, Vijay Eswaran in the mid-late 90s. Bismark detailed his hesitation to engage in MLMs in his interviews: “I met up with my partner Vijay Eswaran here in the Philippines. In fact I was avoiding meeting with him because my friend of mine—a Finnish guy— wanted me to introduce him to this guy who brought in a company called Cosway in network marketing. And, I had some negativity network marketing companies at that time…I was avoiding being recruited into network marketing altogether.” Eventually, says Bismark, “I joined him—on my own terms. I built a network in the Philippines, and eventually, over 7,000 people joined. From there, our partnership grew.”

However, Bismark revealed that the company “we brought to the Philippines suddenly shut down on us. I won’t go into the details, but they couldn’t pay commissions to the 1,500 people we had brought into their system. We felt responsible. We couldn’t lose face, and we owed it to those people to ensure they received what they had earned. This forced us to start our own network marketing company.”[61] The seed capital Eswaran and Bismark secured for this new venture would eventually lead to the investors filing charges against them and Interpol Red Notices that would lead to their arrest in Indonesia.

Since 2002, QI Group entities and their founders have faced numerous allegations and bans in multiple jurisdictions highlighted in part by Interpol’s issuing Red Notices in 2006 and their subsequent arrests in Indonesia in a long string of scandals, regulatory and enforcement actions against the Group.[62]

The Group and its subsidiaries, such as QNET and Qatana, which have operated or rebranded under numerous trade names such as Question International, Quest Net, Gold Quest, Silver Quest and many others, are banned in multiple jurisdictions for operating multi-level marketing (MLM), Ponzi, and money laundering schemes. Allegations against the group include links to terrorism financing, such as funneling money to the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) and supporting Zakir Naik—a banned Islamic preacher who founded Peace TV, which is prohibited in several countries for promoting violent extremism against Hindu, Christian, and Jewish communities—and the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), banned in India for similar activities. The group and its directors are accused in multiple jurisdictions of leveraging offshore accounts to obscure financial flows and a problematic pattern of opaque business practices.

In 2002, GoldQuest was identified by the Australian Office of Consumer and Business Affairs as one of the 61 pyramid schemes operating in the country that prompted legislative amendments aimed at better addressing and regulating these schemes. [Australian Parliament Hansard – Archive (Full Text)]

In India, multiple authorities have scrutinized QNet’s business model, alleging it operates as a pyramid scheme and charging it with money laundering violations. In Butan, India, where the Group has an extensive history of facing enforcement and regulatory sanctions, authorities began investigations in 2003, leading the Royal Monetary Authority to designate GoldQuest as a pyramid scheme (Sunday Times). Business operations there had started in 2001 with Goldquest International Pvt. Ltd., transitioning to QuestNet.

Allegations and investigations persisted through the 2000s with QI Groups’ operations exposed in Rwanda in 2008 by the National Bank of Rwanda and the Ministry of Finance subsequently banning QuestNet as a pyramid scheme. (AllAfrica Report) And again the same year after the group attempted to restart its operations under intermediaries (Rwanda News Agency). The Sudanese government banned QuestNet in 2009 after identifying its operations as fraudulent (Al-Watan Sudan Report) and in 2010 in Burkina Faso (France24 Observers – Archived).

In May 2009 Chennai police arresting Pushpam Appalanaidu, Managing Director of GoldQuest India, along with six other employees and twelve more listed as an accused “absconding” following numerous complaints and ensuing crackdowns. Among the absconding respondents, Chennai police sought to extradite Vijay Eswaran, GoldQuest’s founder from Malaysia to face trial in India. (Original filing: Chennai Chargesheet 2009, Media coverage: Business Standard, May 25, 2008, The New Indian Express, March 7, 2009, Times of India, October 17, 2009, Pyramid Scheme Alert)

The Group’s operations have been repeatedly called out for specifically targeting economically vulnerable populations with weak regulatory oversight in regions of operations that closely align with the PRC’s predatorial economic tactics, of starting fires only to attempt to sell its victims buckets of water. In 2011, In Sri Lankan authorities exposed GoldQuest and it’s founder Vijay Eswaran as a pyramid scheme exploiting Sri Lankans through promises of high returns from gold and trinket investments. Investigative reports revealed the illegal remittance of funds and reliance on recruitment-driven financial inflows, yet despite significant evidence, cases against Eswaran were deprioritized, allowing him to resume business activities in Sri Lanka after a brief period of absence. (Lankika – Archived)

Similar outcomes were seen over the years in Iran, Afghanistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Turkey among many other countries where the PRC has considerable geoeconomics interests linked to its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) such as Kenya. Yet, by 2014, Forbes Asia magazine included Vijay Eswaran in the TOP 50 richest people in Malaysia because, in 2013, his group of companies reportedly recorded an income of $750 million.

In December 2016, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police filed a comprehensive chargesheet spanning 55,000 pages after a three-year investigation into the company’s operations. This chargesheet implicated several individuals associated with QNet, including its founder, Vijay Eswaran, detailing financial irregularities and violations of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act.

As recently as August, 2022, the Office of Consumer Protection informed the general pubic in a public notice that “QNET, a scheme that is operated in Bhutan by Vihaan Direct Selling Pvt. Ltd, India is a pyramid promotional scheme.” Earlier cases from 2002 to 2003 were revisited for context in the ongoing allegations.

Subsequently, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) intensified the investigation by freezing 36 bank accounts linked to Vihaan Direct Selling (India) Pvt Ltd, QNet’s official franchisee in India, as part of a money laundering probe. A series of ongoing actions underscore the Indian authorities’ commitment to addressing alleged financial misconduct associated with Qi Group and QNet’s operations.

4. Conclusion
Evidence points to intergenerational and systemic overlap between Hawaiian-based Healthy’s and the global network of Science of Identity Foundation (SIF) and its affiliate entities, all with ties and potential conduits of influence to Tulsi Gabbard, her family and inner circle, raising exposure risks to foreign malign influence due to the network’s acquisition by the Qi Group, a PRC aligned organization with notable ties to its influence footprint.

Collectively, these findings cast questions about the Gabbards’ network in a new light, raising the risk profile that it may have wittingly or unwittingly been subjugated to serve as a cutout asset for foreign malign influence, potentially leveraging illicit fund flows.

While much attention has been given in recent years to Tulsi Gabbard’s controversial public statements and foreign policy stances, long-standing association with Chris Butler’s Science of Identity Foundation (SIF), and her ties to Indian officials and nationalist groups, this area has remained critically underexamined. The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) potential for influence or infiltration via the Qi Group’s activities into Butler’s Cold War era network and the Gabbard’s political and personal activities presents a concerning risk profile that not only directly intersects with the core mission of the Director of National Intelligence to detect and counter foreign influence and infiltration, but also, beyond the immediate concerns regarding Tulsi Gabbard’s prospective appointment to the DNI role, presents an urgent case study in foreign malign threat vectors targeting the U.S. at systemic levels through a convergence of gray zone tactics and legacy operations.

Public discourse has ranged from criticism of Gabbard’s isolationist leaning policy stances, often characterized as too soft on adversarial actors such as Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Syria’s Basher Al-Assad and Russia’s Vladmir Putin, to deep involvement in Chris Butler’s closed spiritual group often framed as a cult movement and criticized for its founder’s controversial remarks and views. However, while Gabbard’s body of statements have at times puzzled even her own supporters, they argue that these fall within the guardrails of paleoconservative non-interventionist policy stances espoused by the incoming administration. These are therefore often dismissed as a point of friction within legitimate foreign policy debates taking place inside the U.S. today. As to Gabbard’s ties to SIF and Chris Butler, the commotion over cults and incendiary language towards the LGBTQ community has been met with a mixture of silence and charges of bigotry by Tulsi and her family.

Above: The Iowa Informer and MeanwhileInHawaii.org obtained previously unreleased video and audio from 2002 of Science of Identity Foundation (SIF) founder Chris Butler engaged in hateful speech towards the LGBTQ community. The leaked audio transcript is provided in full in the endnotes.

In the course of these public discussions there has also been some scrutiny of Gabbard’s proximity to Indian circles of influence, particularly from the Modi government’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the “Sangh Parivar” (commonly referred to as the Sangh), a collection of Hindu nationalist organizations in India ideologically aligned with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing, paramilitary volunteer organization. However, Gabbard, the first Hindu-American elected to the U.S. Congress, has consistently denied allegations of undue influence from these circles, claiming that her interactions with Modi and other Indian officials are part of her efforts to strengthen U.S.-India relations and are not indicative of support for any particular political agenda. In response to concerns about her connections to Hindu nationalist groups, such as the Sangh, Gabbard has argued that these stem from misunderstandings or misrepresentations of her faith and heritage. Overall, Gabbard maintains that her political positions and actions are guided by her commitment to serving her constituents and upholding American values, independent of any foreign influence.

Yet, despite public records demonstrating concerning linkages, little has been said about the presence of PRC-aligned entities within Tulsi Gabbard’s inner circle. Given the ODNI’s mandate to safeguard U.S. national security, any association with networks linked to foreign influence could present vulnerabilities.

Evidence suggests systemic overlaps and patterns that warrant scrutiny in the public interest. This assessment does not allege misconduct but underscores the need for due diligence to ensure the integrity of national security appointments. The potential for elite capture in Tulsi Gabbard’s case highlights a broader vulnerability within the U.S. intelligence and policymaking framework. While her direct intentions may be irrelevant to the overarching security concerns, her network’s ties to PRC-aligned entities present significant risks.

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