1  09-29-87 10:05 aed
 
   MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. (UPI) _ A Hare Krishna swami said today he and
his religious leader are scheduled to appear in federal court next week
and respond to their alleged involvement in a fire insurance scam.
   Krishna devotee Thomas Drescher, also known as Tirtha Swami, said a
hearing is scheduled next Monday in U.S. District Court at Elkins.
Drescher and Keith Ham, a.k.a. Swami Kirtanananda Bhaktipada, were named
Sept. 16 in an eight-count indictment released by a federal grand jury.
   However, a federal court spokeswoman said today she found no record
of the hearing date.
   Drescher and Ham are accused of burning a building in 1983 at the
Krishna community in Marshall County to collect $40,000 from Inland
Insurance Co. of Huntington.
   Both men have denied any wrongdoing. Ham said last week he intends
to fight the charges with religious principles and called ongoing state
and federal investigations of his temple a "war between the godly and
ungodly."
   Drescher is serving a life sentence at the West Virginia
Penitentiary after being found guilty of murdering another Krishna
devotee in 1983.