Brazilian Church Accused of Money Laundering $1 Billion

The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, founded by controversial pastor Edir Macedo, has been accused of money laundering again. The accusations come from Rio de Janeiro’s Public Prosecutor’s Office and Brazil’s Financial Activities Control Board.

According to Brazilian news site Poder360, in one fiscal year, May 2018 to April 2019, at least 5.9 billion reals–approximately $1.093 billion in US dollars–moved through church bank accounts in a questionable manner.

So far, Edir Macedo has not been accused of participating in the new money laundering allegations. Instead, his nephew Mauro Macedo and Rio de Janeiro mayor Marcelo Crivella, a bishop in the Universal Church, are allegedly linked to the financial crimes.

Universal Church officials deny the allegations which they claim are politically motivated attacks.

In 2008, Edir Macedo was arrested but not convicted of embezzling $2 billion. After Edir Macedo’s arrest, the Associated Press reported, “The church allegedly used fake companies to launder the money, moving the assets abroad and then returning them in the form of loans used by Macedo and his accomplices to buy businesses, prosecutors said.”