An Argentina-based yoga group sexually exploited vulnerable women it called "geishas" to get money and influence from wealthy and powerful men around the world, including opera star Placido Domingo, who knew the organization's leaders for more than two decades, according to interviews with former members and local authorities.
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who → base → members
A sprawling investigation into the sect-like Buenos Aires Yoga School, which operated for over 30 years in Argentina's capital, has uncovered what authorities are calling a criminal organization involved in sex trafficking, money laundering, involuntary servitude, illegal practice of medicine and other crimes.
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authorities → sprawl → medicine
Nineteen members have been arrested in the investigation that reaches into the U.S., where six more suspects are sought.
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suspects → arrest → U.S.
Despite its name, the school did not offer yoga classes.
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school → offer → classes
Leaders are accused of preying on people to join its ranks with promises of eternal happiness and then exploiting them sexually and financially, according to charging documents.
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Leaders → accuse → documents
Former members of the school and officials investigating the case told The Associated Press that the group forced female members to work as "geishas" who were assigned to make guests feel welcome at the school, with sex part of the expectations.
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sex → investigate → expectations
Influential or wealthy men were matched up with members of the "Geishado VIP," one of many groups of women that were forced to have sexual encounters in exchange for money and influence that benefited sect leaders, according to the charging documents.
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that → match → documents
Some of the women were sent to the United States and Uruguay to have sex with men, a practice that amounted to slavery, authorities said.
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authorities → send → slavery
Former member Pablo Salum said his mother and sister were among the women exploited in Argentina, and described orgies and sexual abuse of children.
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mother → say → children
"When you reached 11 or 12 years old, the leader told you who you had to have sexual relations with," he said, adding that younger children were made to watch sexual activity.
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children → reach → activity
Salum says he was brought into the organization by his mother at age eight and left at 14.
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he → say → 14
His accusations helped spark the current investigation.
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accusations → help → investigation
Some members of the group were reduced to "a situation of slavery," forced to have sexual encounters and tasked with menial chores at the school like cleaning and cooking, according to the investigative documents and a police official.
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members → reduce → documents
Male and female "slaves" were required to follow instructions without asking any questions, said a former member named Carlos, who asked to be identified only by his first name because he left the group many years ago and couldn't confirm details from the current investigation.
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he → require → investigation
Domingo found himself embroiled in the scandal after law enforcement officers carried out dozens of raids in Buenos Aires in August targeting the school.
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officers → find → school
The famed tenor was "a consumer of prostitution" but isn't accused of a crime because prostitution is legal in Argentina, said a law enforcement source in Argentina who, like other police and judicial sources in Buenos Aires, spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
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investigation → accuse → anonymity
Authorities released wiretapped phone conversations from earlier this year in which a man they identified as Domingo appears to be arranging a sexual meetup at his hotel in April in Buenos Aires with Susana Mendelievich, a concert pianist who prosecutors say was a sect leader in charge of the "Geishado VIP."
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prosecutors → release → VIP
In one of the wiretaps, Mendelievich talks with another sect leader about how the group had tried unsuccessfully for years to use its music connections to recruit Domingo into the group but it was worth trying again while he was in Buenos Aires in April for a series of concerts.
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he → talk → concerts
In another wiretap, Mendelievich asks sect leader Juan Percowicz if she can take Domingo to "the museum," the moniker used to refer to the top floor of their 10-story building where influential men had sex with group members.
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men → ask → members
Mendelievich, 75, and Percowicz, 84, were detained in the raids in August; both were released this week to house arrest.
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both → detain → arrest
Domingo has publicly tried to distance himself from the group, which allegedly had multiple offices in the United States.
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which → try → States
"Of course, I have nothing to do with that," Domingo, 81, said last week in reference to the organization's allegedly illegal activities.
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Domingo → have → activities
In comments to a television station in Mexico, where he was performing, Domingo did not deny he was the man in the wiretapped recordings but said he felt betrayed by musicians he had considered to be friends.
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he → perform → musicians
"It makes me sad when you've had friends for many years and you realize you have been used."
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you → make → years
Domingo has not responded to numerous requests through his representatives for an interview or comment from the AP.
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Domingo → respond → AP
In 2019, numerous women told the AP they were
, considered one of the greatest opera singers of all time.
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they → tell → time
More than 20 women came forward to accuse Domingo of inappropriate and sexually charged conduct that included groping and other unwanted touching, persistent late night phone calls, stalking them in dressing rooms and pressuring them into sexual relationships by offering advancement in the opera world.
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that → come → world
Several of the women said he punished them professionally when they refused his advances.
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they → say → advances
The Spanish opera singer denied wrongdoing at the time, and
to think he made women uncomfortable.
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women → deny → time
Investigations by the American Guild of Musical Artists and the Los Angeles Opera, where Domingo had served as general director, found sexual harassment allegations against him to be credible.
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allegations → serve → him
The allegations and subsequent findings , though he still performs in other parts of the world.
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he → perform → world
The revelations out of Argentina have again brought unwanted attention to the opera star.
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revelations → bring → star
The promoter of a concert in neighboring Chile announced last week that a Domingo concert scheduled for Oct. 16 at an arena in the capital, Santiago, was canceled, although the group said it was due to logistical reasons.
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it → neighbor → reasons
Authorities have not released names of other powerful men they say the group allegedly targeted.
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group → release → men
But investigators say they are poring over hard drives and "boxes and boxes" of erotic photographs and videotapes seized in the raids.
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they → say → raids
Judicial officials say that many sexual encounters arranged by the group took place at its Buenos Aires school and were videotaped.
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encounters → say → school
Carlos told the AP that he saw Domingo visit the school several times in the 1990s, including once as the guest of honor at a dinner party inside the school.
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Domingo → tell → school
Carlos said he was a waiter at the party, held in Domingo's honor, where the singer made a generous offer at the end of the evening to fly several of the group's leaders with him to Europe on an upcoming trip.
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singer → say → trip
"At the dinner Placido Domingo said 'let's all go to Europe'," said Carlos, who left the group after 10 years in 1999.
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who → say → 1999
"He was inviting them all, the whole table, to Europe."
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He → invite → Europe
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
