One criminal group formed by dozens of evangelical leaders carried out million-dollar scams in victims, usually faithful attendees of their churches promising absurd profits, like “one octillion reais” (R$ 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000).
Part of the group – eleven pastors – was the target of an operation by the Civil Police of the Federal District, this Wednesday morning (20). For the “False Prophet” operation, two preventive arrest warrants and 16 search and seizure warrants were issued.
See: Pastors use Paulo Guedes’ name to carry out scams
“The investigation also showed movements of more than R$156 million in the last five years, as well as around forty “ghost” and shell companies were identified, and more than eight hundred suspicious bank accounts,” stated Civil.
Police officers began the investigation about a year ago. In December last year, a man was arrested in Brasília suspected of involvement in the scheme after using a false document at a bank branch pretending to have credit worth R$17 billion. The group continued to carry out scams after the arrest.
The targets may be liable, depending on their participation in the scheme, for committing the crimes of embezzlement, forgery of documents, ideological falsehood, money laundering, crimes against the tax system and criminal organization.
How did the “Nesara Gesara” scam work?
The investigation found that the scam used misleading conversations on social media, such as Telegram, Instagram and WhatsApp.
The Civil Police points out that criminals “abusing the faith of others and religious beliefs” invoked a conspiracy theory called “Nesara Gesara”.
The victims, the vast majority of whom are evangelical believers, were led to believe that they were people chosen by God to receive the “blessing”, that is, millions of dollars.
The faithful were convinced to invest their savings in false financial operations or false humanitarian action projects with the promise of immediate financial returns with absurd profitability.
Profit of R$ 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
An example presented by the police was the promise made by religious leaders that a deposit of R$25 could give a return of an “octillion reais” that is, the number 1 followed by 27 zeros: R$ 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
In terms of comparison, for example, according to IMF data, in 2022, the GDP of the United States and Brazil, respectively, was US$25.46 trillion and US$1.92 trillion. This is the sum of all final goods and services produced in those countries during the year.
The return promised by the pastors – the octillion reais – would even surpass all the wealth of the entire planet combined.
The police also warned that an investment of R$2,000 was promised a return of “350 billion centillion euros”.
“The scam can be considered one of the largest ever investigated in Brazil, as victims were found to be people from different social classes and located in almost all units of the federation, with an estimated number of more than 50 thousand victims”, said the Civil Police
Criminals used the name Paulo Guedes
According to the police, the group’s leader, pastor Osório José Lopes Júnior, stated that the bonds offered would already have authorization from the federal government, through the former Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, to be paid.
In addition to the name of the ministry, Osório also uses the logo of financial entities, such as the World Bank and Banco do Brasil, on an investment platform run by the group, to give credibility to the business.
The scam applied by the pastor has lasted at least nine years. According to the police, he traveled around the country with the help of other people to attract new investors.
Pastors targeted by the operation spread fake news and attributed it to media outlets, messages show
The 11 pastors targeted in an operation by the Civil Police of the Federal District (PCDF) this Wednesday (20) spread false news on social media after the second round of last year’s elections, according to messages recorded on the cell phones of those being investigated.
In one of them, a suspect asks about the alleged death of then-president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT): “Is this story about Lula being dead true? Because there are places that say they are in Bahia with their wife resting.”
Another message incorrectly cites the CNN : “A journalist from CNN The news has just come out that Alexandre de Moraes has just sent an extrajudicial notification to Anatel that will now be passed on to internet companies from 10pm onwards, all internet servers in Brazil will be turned off to prevent it from being coordinated.”
This information never existed and CNN never released any line on the subject.
Source: CNN Brasil
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