T.U.R.F War
We are in a TURF WAR, and IRS investigators may have some tough questions after they watch our investigation into a guy named Sath Sivasothy. His family owns the semiconductor business Vyrian but he also has a charity that supposedly helps the poor and elderly called the Texas Urban Redevelopment Foundation. TURF. Is he really just helping himself?
T.U.R.F WAR
Long time Houstonians remember watching the Oilers and the Astros at the Astrodome… The eighth wonder of the world… And one of the things that made it famous was the Astroturf… Fake grass. Speaking of fake… Check this out.
Very few of us could ever afford this… A four and a half million-dollar mansion in Missouri City, Texas.
Nearly three acres… A twelve thousand square foot house.
Guess it would be a little easier for a rich guy if you could live here tax free.
Exempt from paying a single penny in property taxes.
“Holy cow. why would that even be exempt? Yeah. That is the residential structure,” said Brenda Lim.
Eighty-Thirty one Thompson lake drive is owned by a non-profit organization called the Texas Urban Redevelopment Foundation.
TURF.
And there’s growing evidence it may be as fake as the artificial grass folks call Astroturf.
“Yeah, we share that concern, and we’ve been discussing how we might approach this with our attorneys,” said Rex Wogan.
The Fort Bend central appraisal district may be concerned now but they weren’t before we called them…We can prove it.
We wanted to see what is called form 50-299… It was signed by Audrey Sivasothy.
And it says the mansion was being used to provide charitable housing to impoverished or insecure families.
I’m insecure… Can I live there?
The Nevada based charity application is also signed by the other director of TURF.
Sathian Sivasothy.
Audreys husband.
The appraiser’s office rubber stamped TURFs charitable exemption in December of 2024… Backdated their exemption to the beginning of the year.
Fort Bend says that now…. But they’re the ones who rubber stamped its exemption in 2024.
We did the math… That one mansion alone has cost Fort Bend County taxpayers more than $112,000 in lost tax collection.
Money for schools… For deputies… For roads.
And it’s not the only TURF property in Fort Bend County.
TURF also owns this eight-hundred-thousand-dollar house, 5931 White River Pass.
Maybe another lucky day for an impoverished family… but we didn’t see one when we watched the place.
TURFs neighbors must pay taxes to the county, The levy improvement district, The drainage district, Fort Bend ISD and a municipal utility district.
All in all, we found 9 tax exempt properties in Harris and Fort Bend counties… All part of this charity’s alleged mission.
And we wanted to meet some of the lucky renters.
“I’ve never heard this foundation, don’t know who the owner is,” said Anonymous.
Want to know more about the so called Texas Urban Redevelopment Foundation.
Their website promises it is the future home of something cool.
Using the wayback machine a non-profit that archives the internet… We found their old website from April of 2025 looking at all the pictures of the happy folks they claim they helped wish they would call me.
Its corporate charter on file with the Texas Secretary of State says it cares for the sick and addicted too.
“Provide temporary shared community and transitional housing accommodations for individuals who are recovering from drug addiction”… Getting medical treatment… Or experiencing housing issues.
That sounds well so charitable…Nice…But when the charity applied for tax exemptions from Harris and Fort Bend County… It provided a charter saying something different.
Primarily the foundation intends to support what we believe to be the community’s most vulnerable population… The elderly.
So, which is it? And who is the old, vulnerable poor person getting to live in the mansion.
The only guy we saw leaving was the charities co-founder Sathyan Sivasothy… A public database says his whole family lives there.
Brenda Lim… From Harris County central appraisal district says that’s an easy red flag… Fort Bend could have easily seen that.
“They could not occupy those properties if they’re being used for the business. that should have been an automatic denial,” says Brenda Lim.
The charity watchdog candid lists the primary headquarters of TURF as 3931 Ann Arbor drive… It’s the mailing address for the IRS.
No sign on the building… But I’m sure they can help me inside.
And while I’m there, I wanted to get some reduced rent too.
I am told that Sath Sivasothy isn’t there… A missed opportunity… He never returned our calls, ignored our letter.
You know it’s sad that Sath. Wasn’t here… What do you know.
Sath Sivasothy isn’t poor… He’s worth millions.
He’s the vice president of Vyrian incorporated… A Houston-based manufacturer of electronic components.
Vyrian has been in business 12 years… The last reported annual sales… 7.5 million dollars.
3931 Ann Arbor drive.
And here’s something interesting.
We looked at the history of these two Fort Bend properties.
Let’s start with the mansion.
The property was owned by Vyrian back in 2018… The family business… Certainly no charity.
It was then sold to Windsor capital trust… Two years later sold to Siva Capital Holdings LLC… He owns that… And then in 2024 they gave the property to TURF.
One month later the request for free taxes.
The house on White River Pass was owned by… Sath… Then it went to a familiar name… Windsor capitol trust… Then Windsor sells it to TURF.
The Harris County appraiser initially red flagged the charities requests for exemptions on six lower priced properties.
Field notes had come back…Does not appear to be any charitable use.
TURF resubmitted its request with rental agreements for impoverished people… Including big rental discounts… Harris County ultimately said ok.
But that may change after our investigation.
We visited some of TURF’s properties.
“I’ve never heard this foundation, don’t know who the owner Is,” said Anonymous.
In 2024 the tenant at TURF’s Bacher street property signed a TURF rental agreement paying fifty one percent below market rate.
But the next couple to move in here had no idea the owner claimed to be a charity.
They signed a rental agreement with a property management company called MYND.
They’re payingmore than nineteen hundred dollars a month…. What discount.
“I’m a business owner as well. So, then I don’t like people to try to scam folks or, you know, just be misleading with anything, you know,” said Anonymous
“Sometimes it does take a little while before they get caught,” said Brenda Lim.
Now we’ve found two other Harris County properties owned by TURF up for rent on the MYND web site.
And you know us, we blew the whistle.
“The best thing to do is if you could send me an email with whatever has happened so that way we can open everything back up and we will re-qualify all the properties,” said Brenda Lim.
If Fort Bend had bothered to call the number originally provided… They would have heard that Audrey was a real estate agent.
“Hi, you’ve reached Audrey Sivasothy at Keller Williams Southwest. Sorry I missed your call,” said Aubrey Sivasothy.
“Certainly, if we can demonstrate that they’re not a legitimate organization then that would mean that, yeah, it would be canceled. that exemption would be canceled,” said Rex Wogan.
Vyrian faces other alleged tax fraud allegations from former employees.
This EEOC complaint we have alleged Sath defraud insurance companies… With false invoices… Withheld rental property income to the IRS.
Even shipped illegal drugs.
And court documents filed by former employee Abdul Datarwala claim the elusive Sath and his company of racketeering, Unpaid commissions of more than ten million dollars.
And forgery.
The questions we have for the Vyrian boss are mounting.
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