Investigations in Mexico
The leaders of La Luz del Mundo have been accused of different crimes in its almost one hundred years of existence. Victims claim that there may be hundreds or even thousands of sexually abused minors. The film’s investigation team found a pattern of abuse by Samuel and Naasón, and documented cases of sexual, psychological and/or economic abuse of more than 30 people in Mexico, the United States and other countries.
Furthermore, investigations opened in Mexico for alleged electoral, tax and money laundering crimes are unresolved.
In June 2019, after the arrest of Naasón Joaquín, the Attorney General’s Office of Alejandro Gertz Manero opened an investigation folder. However, in Mexico nothing has happened in legal terms: neither 26 years ago when Karem and his colleagues denounced Samuel Joaquín, nor in recent years with the robust file from the United States.
One of the complainants in the investigation in Mexico is Sochil Martín, who claims to have been a victim of sexual abuse by Naasón; but the file has not been prosecuted, that is, the evidence presented by the public ministry is not solid enough for a trial to begin. Naasón Joaquín, for his part, has not been called to appear by the FGR through the North American government, according to requests for information made in 2021 and 2022.
Even during the hearings in the United States, no delegation from the Mexican authorities, who are authorized to participate as observers, was present.
The fortune amassed by The light of the world It does not correspond to a non-profit organization. On February 26, 2020, the Prosecutor’s Office received a letter from the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP), which Santiago Nieto directed at that time.
With the financial analysis carried out by the UIF, an attempt was made to provide transparency about the money they have accumulated as a church: between 2008 and 2019 the four jurisdictions of the church declared one thousand 699 million pesos. Tax documents in the United States, for their part, show that various churches and associations linked to the Light of the world They reported to the treasury expenses for more than 10 million dollars.
Within the estate – according to documents obtained – there are also 39 properties in Mexico for an amount of more than 27 million pesos, while on US soil they own 23 properties valued at more than 21 million dollars. Even among these onerous expenses there is possession and maintenance of exotic fauna valued at almost six million dollars.
Although the above are fiscal reports without any apparent anomaly, they measure a part of the amount of funds to which the ministers have access.
The FIU detected alleged irregular operations for a little more than one billion pesos. Among the bank accounts analyzed are those of Naasón Joaquín and Fraternidad Levitica, as well as the Northern, Southern and Central jurisdictions; The one that recorded the most unusual operations was that of Fraternidad Levitica for about 70 million pesos and one million 337 thousand dollars.
Naasón, for his part, accumulated irregular movements for more than 23 million pesos and 416 thousand dollars. Some of these contradictory traces to the life of a religious association were established between 2014 and 2018. For example: purchases of latest model trucks of that time brand “GMC Yukon Denali Sub 2018” and “Acura RDX 2018” that amounted to two million of pesos.
To these expenses – according to the financial scheme and the criminal complaint of the UIF – are added “global operations integrated into the criminal process” for 849 million pesos and more than 4 million dollars. This information was what the FGR received in the investigation folder that has not made any further progress. The public versions of the files have been reserved by the FIU for about five years.
This meant that the authority tried to freeze the church’s accounts. However, it has not succeeded: there has been litigation since 2019 and the last protection was registered in March 2023.
2023-10-06 19:24:49
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