Yoga cult ‘forcing female members to have sex with wealthy and prominent men in an attempt to gain favor with important men, including opera singer Placido Domingo’
The Buenos Aires Yoga School operated in Argentina’s capital for almost three decades.
Leaders are accused of abusing individuals sexually and financially after luring them with promises of everlasting pleasure to join their organization.
Reportedly, some members of the organization were reduced to a state of servitude.
Nineteen members have been arrested, and six are wanted in the United States.
A yoga club located in Argentina reportedly abused vulnerable women sexually and coerced female members to have sex with wealthy men in return for money and power.
According to interviews with former members and local police, opera legend Placido Domingo was among the wealthy and influential individuals targeted by the group and had known its leaders for over two decades.
An investigation into the sect-like Buenos Aires Yoga School, which operated in the Argentine capital for more than three decades, has revealed a multitude of sex trafficking, money laundering, forced servitude, unlawful practice of medicine, and other offenses.
Nineteen members have been arrested so far in the inquiry that extends to the United States, where six additional individuals are being sought.
Contrary to its name, the institution did not provide yoga instruction. According to charge papers, leaders are accused of luring individuals into their ranks with promises of everlasting pleasure and then abusing them sexually and financially.
According to interviews with former members and local police, opera singer Placido Domingo was among the targeted wealthy and prominent persons who had known the organization’s leaders for more than a decade.
The women who were compelled to work as ‘geishas’ were expected to make visitors feel welcome via sex.
Powerful or affluent men were paired with members of the ‘Geishado VIP’, one of numerous groups of women compelled to engage in sexual interactions in return for money and power that benefited the sect leaders.
Authorities claim that some women were also taken to the United States and Uruguay to have sex with males, a behavior that amounted to slavery.
Former member Pablo Salum said that his mother and sister were among the exploited women in Argentina, and recounted orgies and child sexual assault.
“When you reached 11 or 12 years old, the leader would tell you who you were required to have sexual contact with,” he added, adding that younger children were forced to observe sexual activities.
Salum claims that his mother recruited him into the organization at age eight and he quit at age fourteen. His allegations prompted the present inquiry.
According to the investigation papers and a police officer, some members of the group were allegedly subjected to a “condition of slavery” in which they were compelled to engage in sexual activity and do menial tasks at the school, such as cleaning and cooking.
Male and female’slaves’ were obliged to obey commands without asking any questions, according to Carlos, a former member who requested anonymity.
Opera singer Domingo became engaged in the affair when law enforcement agents conducted hundreds of raids on the institution in Buenos Aires in August.
According to a law enforcement source in Argentina, the renowned tenor was a “consumer of prostitutes,” but he is not accused of a crime since prostitution is permitted in the country.
Authorities published wiretapped phone conversations from earlier this year in which a man they described as Domingo appeared to be planning a sexual encounter at his hotel in April in Buenos Aires with Susana Mendelievich, a concert pianist who authorities claim was a leader of the ‘Geishado VIP’
According to prosecution papers, sexual interactions were promoted to members as a sort of ‘therapy’ and provided a means to climbing the seven tiers of the school’s rigorous hierarchy, which Percowicz topped. Juan Percowicz, 84, is shown being led by Argentinian police.
In one of the wiretaps, Mendelievich discusses with another sect leader how the organization had attempted unsuccessfully for years to attract Domingo into the group via its music ties, but that it was worthwhile to try again when he was in Buenos Aires for a series of performances in April.
In another wiretap, Mendelievich asks sect head Juan Percowicz whether she may take Domingo to “the museum,” a term referring to the 10th level of the organization’s 10-story structure where powerful men have intercourse with group members.
Mendelievich, 75, and Percowicz, 84, were arrested during the August raids; both were freed to house arrest this week.
Domingo has attempted to publicly dissociate himself from the organisation, which supposedly had various offices throughout the United States.
Last Monday, Domingo, 81, said in response to the organization’s suspected illicit operations, “Of course, I have nothing to do with that.”
Domingo, shown in Madrid last year, has recently been the subject of many sexual harassment charges.
Domingo did not deny his man in remarks to a television station in Mexico, where he was playing, but he did say he felt misled by artists he had considered friends.
“It makes me sad when I learn I’ve been taken advantage of by longtime pals,” he added.
Through his agents, Domingo has not replied to many requests for an interview or statement.
Domingo, widely regarded as one of the finest opera singers, has been accused by several women of sexual harassment in 2019.
More than 20 women came forward to accuse Domingo of improper and sexually charged behavior, including grabbing and other unwanted touches, frequent late night phone calls, stalking them in changing rooms, and forcing them into sexual relationships by providing career progress.
In 2001, the opera diva performs at a rehearsal at New York’s Metropolitan Opera.
Multiple women said that he penalized them professionally when they rejected his approaches.
At the time, the Spanish opera singer denied any misconduct and claimed it grieved him to think he made ladies uncomfortable.
The American Guild of Musical Artists and the Los Angeles Opera, where Domingo had worked as general director, concluded that claims of sexual harassment against him were genuine.
Domingo’s career in the United States was ended by the claims and subsequent findings, although he continues to perform in other areas of the globe.
The discoveries from Argentina have once again brought the opera singer unwelcome attention.
The organizer of a performance in neighboring Chile stated this week that a Domingo event set for October 16 in an arena in the city, Santiago, had been canceled, despite the group’s explanation that logistical issues were to blame.
Authorities have not disclosed the identities of other influential figures the organization reportedly targeted.
However, investigators report that they are sifting through hard drives and “boxes and boxes” of sexual images and videotapes confiscated during the searches.
According to judicial authorities, several sexual meetings planned by the organisation occurred at its Buenos Aires school and were recorded on film.
Former member Carlos reported seeing Domingo visit the school many times in the 1990s, including once as the honored guest at a school dinner celebration.
Carlos said that he was a server at the party given in Domingo’s honor, when the singer generously offered to fly a number of the group’s leaders to Europe with him on an impending trip.
“At the meal, Placido Domingo said, ‘Let’s all travel to Europe,’” said Carlos, who quit the group in 1999 after ten years.
He was inviting everyone at the table to Europe.
At Domingo’s table were classical musicians who, according to police, were part of the group’s leadership: Rubén D’Artagnan González, Verónica Iacono, and Mendelievich, among others, according to Carlos, who said that it was well-known at the school that the three accompanied Domingo on his trip.
González, who passed away in 2018, served as concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1986 to 1996 and is accused of having a significant part in the organization’s U.S. activities.
New York-based soprano Lacono, who sang under the stage name Loiacono, is the subject of an international arrest order.
Another purported commander with the name Mariano Krawczyk was an oboist with the artistic name Mariano Krauz.
The nature of Domingo’s professional or personal links to the group’s musicians is unknown, and he has refused to comment.
But Domingo has played with some of the arrested individuals, including the three he reportedly invited to Europe and Krawczyk during a 1996 performance.
During that event in Buenos Aires, Domingo and Lacono performed a piece of ‘Marked Cards,’ an opera composed by Lacono, Mendelievich, González, and Krawczyk based on a book by Percowicz, the founder and head of the Buenos Aires Yoga School.
According to prosecution papers, sexual interactions were promoted to members as a sort of ‘therapy’ and provided a means to climbing the seven tiers of the school’s rigorous hierarchy, which Percowicz topped.
According to former members questioned, Percowicz was referred to as “El Maestro.” According to prosecutor papers, Lacono, Krawczyk, and Mendelievich were also classified at the seventh level.
Before his death, González was a leader inside the group, according to papers seen by a court source. Krawczyk was arrested among others.
Members might also give money and sign over assets to progress rapidly. According to a court officer, the group’s monthly earnings was around $500,000 per month.
According to investigation records, cult members included attorneys and accountants who counseled leaders on a complicated money laundering network that involved creating companies and purchasing real estate in Argentina and the United States.
Members also allegedly sold medical treatments for several ailments, including AIDS and drug addiction, that involved ‘sleep cures,’ which essentially meant giving people drugs to help them sleep for days at a time.
Authorities claim that pseudomedical treatments were also administered in the United States, where subsidiaries of the clinic CMI Abasto were located.