Gurbaksh Chahal, the multi-millionaire Internet mogul charged with dozens of domestic violence counts, allegedly hit and kicked his girlfriend 117 times over a half-hour period Monday morning, according to prosecutors, adding the entire assault was caught on video.
Chahal, 31, of Rincon Hill, the chief executive of online advertising company RadiumOne, also allegedly prevented the young woman from breathing for 20 seconds during a dispute prosecutors said was fueled by jealousy.
This morning, Chahal pleaded not guilty to 47 counts stemming from the dispute at Chahal's home at The Infinity Towers.
A judge raised his bail from $125,000 to $1 million, ordered him to stay away from his girlfriend and seized his passport, according to prosecutors.
He is out of custody after posting the $1 million bail.
Chahal's attorney Stuart Gordon called the charges overblown in a statement sent to reporters before today's hearing. He said the woman “provided photographic proof of an unblemished complexion to SFPD” and filed an affidavit requesting that the investigation be terminated.
Prosecutors told a different story in a motion seeking to rail Chahal's bail. According to court documents, prosecutors said Chahal was angry when he learned his girlfriend had gone to Las Vegas with another man and cheated on him.
The alleged attack reportedly occurred about 10:30 a.m. in his home. He beat her, pulled her hair and threatened to kill her despite multiple pleas from the victim, the court documents said.
She called 911 when he left the room, prosecutors said, and commented to investigators that when police rang the doorbell she was “saved by the bell.”
Police reportedly seized surveillance video from cameras inside the bedroom. The video provides a “grisly picture” of the attack, prosecutors said.
The girlfriend told police it wasn't the first domestic violence incident. The most recent attack, she claimed, occurred July 4 when he allegedly busted her lip.
The entrepreneur was once named America's “most eligible bachelors” by ExtraTV. He reportedly founded his first Internet advertising company, ClickAgents, at age 16 and later sold it for $40 million. At 25, Yahoo bought another one of his companies, BlueLithium, for $300 million.
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