Under the guise of a yoga school, Argentine authorities discovered what was believed to be a sex cult that had pushed several women into prostitution. A Buenos Aires yoga school has promised to lead followers to spiritual salvation. Now, according to the report, it is accused of forcing some of its members into prostitution and laundering real estate proceeds. The newspaper “New York Times.
Juan Perkovich, the founder, was an accountant with an unusual side hobby. He taught self-help classes with a strong dose of ancient philosophy and spiritualism. Given the success of his classes, he created the organization “Yoga School of Buenos Aires” and ran the school for more than three decades, where he lectured and taught self-help classes.
Juan Perkovic, 85, and more than a dozen members of the organization face criminal charges on suspicion of running a “sex cult” rather than a yoga school. According to the indictment, the organization exploited and drugged some of its members, forcing them to sell their bodies and thereby earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a month. The clients were mostly Argentinians and North Americans, and some victims were even minors when they joined the organization.
Although none of the organization’s members said they were forced into prostitution, some reported excessive control by the leader, who described himself as “some kind of God.”
Perkovic was arrested in 2022, and the investigation uncovered more than a million dollars, five gold bars, pornographic films, American bank checkbooks and files on wealthy people.
News of the crimes shocked the South American country, but some families appeared to already be aware of some suspicious situations within the organization. In the 1990s, Perkovic and her school gained media attention after an Argentine family accused the organization of brainwashing their daughter. During the investigation, some former participants said they were forced to work as “slaves.”
According to researchers, Argentina did not yet have clear laws on human trafficking and money laundering at the time, as the judicial system was reformed after the fall of the military dictatorship. Because of this embarrassment, the case was closed.
Today, with updated laws, prosecutors are again pursuing Perkovic in a new investigation into the school’s activities dating back to 2004.
So far, all those involved in the investigation deny their involvement in the crimes.
Author: morning Post
Source: CM Jornal
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