US agents are investigating the leader of the La Luz Del Mundo Church , Naasón Joaquín García, now for money laundering and possible cases of human trafficking, US government officials confirmed to MILENIO .
The Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office in New York, one of the most aggressive in the American union , is in charge of the new investigations against the self-appointed apostle of Jesus Christ.
According to the US government source, the investigations focus mainly on the administration of tithes and donations to the church, diverted to be used for the luxurious lifestyle of Joaquín García and his close family.
Also in obtaining resources of unverifiable origin and tax evasion.
The religious leader, who is currently serving a sentence in a California state prison for sexual assault against minors, now also faces a federal accusation for production and possession of child pornography , derived from a series of videos and images obtained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of his electronic devices when he was detained at Los Angeles International Airport in June 2019.
To investigate whether the Mexican and the church leaders laundered funds, HSI has a source who was part of the “ groomers ” or “preparators” , a hidden group within the church in charge of hooking girls, boys and young people.
“I was in the United States, in California, and the source had many connections more than anything… she got involved in everything, I think the strength of the source is that she knew about several things, and she had knowledge of exploitation of children, exploitation of youths . So I think that's why she learned more information and knew that possibly they were involved in this, in the exploitation of young people," said a US government official.
In Mexico, the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) presented, in December 2020, five complaints to the Attorney General's Office of the Republic against La Luz del Mundo, for money laundering.
According to these investigations, the church failed to inform the Treasury about its income, which is why it generated wealth illegally. In addition, they detected international transfers of “ significant amounts of money ” to people and companies in tax havens.
The FIU then pointed out that the organization headed by Naasón Joaquín García made high expenses on credit cards, vehicles and armor , and lucrative acts, such as the purchase of real estate and shares or the collection of interest.
The case had reached the ears of US security agencies since 2017, when they began searching for victims of abuse and human trafficking. The victims began to give some of the details of how the church leader operated, but physical evidence was lacking until he was arrested in Los Angeles.
That day they seized two electronic devices that are now key pieces in the case against Joaquín for possession and production of child pornography : an iPad and an iPhone. In them, the authorities obtained at least four videos with which they will seek to demonstrate that the “Apostle” participated in the recording and kept various videos and photographs with pornographic material involving minors.
The videos were obtained through two procedures: magnetic mirroring of the contents of the devices, and direct extraction of the material . All carried out in a forensic laboratory of the California Department of Justice, in Fresno.
Two videos revolve around the main victim, known as John Doe to keep his identity anonymous. The young man, originally from Louisiana, was 16 years old the day Naasón Joaquín García was arrested, according to his birth certificate. According to an informant, when the videos were recorded he was 14.
The two videos in which he appears, and which were in the possession of the religious leader, show the young man with a black mask over almost his entire face. In a video, he has relations with a woman identified as his aunt, and which was recorded by Naasón Joaquín himself, according to audio records.
In another, the young man maintains relations with Azalea Rangel, one of Joaquín's " groomers ", and the "Apostle of Jesus Christ" himself, since the latter can be identified by his face.
These two videos were recorded inside the Hermosa Province, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, international headquarters of La Luz del Mundo. And according to one of the victims of the “Apostle”, it was recorded in two of the secret rooms that the church leader had in the enormous central temple.
“There was some furniture in the room, there was a wall full of mirrors and there was a huge plush bear almost seven feet tall on the left side of the room,” revealed one of the agents who saw one of the videos.
In a third video, found on Joaquín's iPhone, material related to an “orgy” was found, according to agents who were able to observe it, in which six young girls participated . One of them, at least, was a minor. On the day Joaquín was arrested, he had barely turned 17 years old.
In the fourth video, several young girls could be seen with the initials NJG written in lipstick on their breasts . The material had been sent to the “Apostle” on February 14, 2019 with the following message: “Happy February 14, my love . This day we will celebrate our love and desire , and that we have a lot in us thanks to you. We love you with all our hearts and we hope you receive this gift.”
Joaquín García has the same luxury lawyers who represented him in the California criminal case for his new charges for child pornography: Alan Jackson and Caleb Mason, the first recognized for having defended the actor Kevin Spacey. The case is currently being prepared to eventually go to trial, if the “Apostle” does not reach a plea agreement, as he did in 2022.
source: https://www.milenio.com/policia/eu-abre-investigacion-naason-joaquin-iglesia-lavado