Internet mogul pleads not guilty to assault

Gurbaksh Chahal in his San Francsico high-rise penthouse in downtown San Francisco, Calif. on Friday Oct. 17, 2008. Chahal is the San Jose internet entrepeneur who made a company as a teenager and sold it to Yahoo for $300 million a few years ago.He has a book coming out on Oct. 23 and will appear on Oprah the same day. less Gurbaksh Chahal in his San Francsico high-rise penthouse in downtown San Francisco, Calif. on Friday Oct. 17, 2008. Chahal is the San Jose internet entrepeneur who made a company as a teenager and sold it to ... more Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Internet mogul pleads not guilty to assault 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

A San Francisco Internet star once dubbed one of America's most eligible bachelors pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he assaulted his girlfriend at his Rincon Hill home.

Gurbaksh Chahal, 31, faces 47 counts of domestic violence-related crimes stemming from a dispute Monday that prosecutors say was caught on surveillance footage in Chahal's bedroom.

Chahal allegedly hit and kicked his girlfriend and tried to smother her with a pillow after learning that she had taken a trip to Las Vegas with another man, according to a complaint filed by the San Francisco district attorney.

At prosecutors' request, Judge Andrew Y.S. Cheng stiffened the terms for Chahal's release from $125,000 bail to $1 million in a hearing Friday in San Francisco Superior Court.

Chahal, who runs the online advertising company RadiumOne, intended to post bail after the hearing, one of his attorneys said.

Jim Lassart, the attorney, declined to discuss details of the case. But he said prosecutors were making too much of the argument between Chahal and his girlfriend because of Chahal's high profile.

"It's always difficult when a celebrity is involved," he said.

Chahal's girlfriend has asked prosecutors to drop the charges, Lassart said.

District attorney's spokesman Alex Bastian said the case would proceed even if the woman is unwilling to testify.

The surveillance footage that prosecutors say shows the dispute has been sealed. Attorneys for Chahal are arguing that police removed the footage during an illegal search of Chahal's home and want the judge to toss it as evidence.

Cheng is expected to consider the request Aug. 29.

Before becoming chief executive of RadiumOne, Chahal founded and sold two Internet companies for more than $300 million.

His status as a wealthy Bay Area businessman won him an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," a role on Fox TV's "Secret Millionaire" series and designation as one of America's most eligible bachelors on the entertainment television program "Extra."

Chahal appeared in court Friday with his sister and legal advisers.

"He's embarrassed," Lassart said. "It's terrible for him. It's terrible for his family."