Beautiful Virgin Islands

Friday, Oct 31, 2025

Paradises of Money and Faith: The Religious Leaders Using Churches to Launder Illicit Cash Across the Americas

When Erik Súñiga died in U.S. custody in April, he left a rich religious and political legacy in the Guatemalan town where he founded an evangelical church, and served as mayor for over a decade.

He also left behind a property empire that was most likely built with drug money. Some of that cash appears to have been laundered through his religious and political network.

That is one of the findings of a cross border investigation by 12 media organizations from nine countries, coordinated by Columbia Journalism Investigations and the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP) , OCCRP’s regional partner in Latin America, into church-related money laundering across the Americas.

The phenomenon is widespread, as religious organizations often escape scrutiny due to their respected role within communities and the lack of regulation governing their affairs, experts say. In a number of countries, this includes tax exemptions.

“Over the years, religious institutions have been repeatedly used … to launder money,” said Mark Califano, a former assistant U.S. attorney and chief legal officer at Nardello & Co, a global investigative firm. “And their special and protected place in most countries and societies has allowed that to happen.”

Súñiga turned himself in to U.S. Drug Enforcement agents in Guatemala in December 2019 and was extradited to Texas. The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control identified him and his organization as “significant foreign narcotics traffickers” and froze his assets in the U.S.

He was reportedly suffering from pancreatic cancer and died before facing trial on drug trafficking charges.

American officials also probed Súñiga’s finances, but did not charge him with money laundering,as they didn’t find strong evidence of illicit transactions occurring within the U.S., said a source with knowledge of the investigation.

“Money laundering charges require more direct proof of financial transactions that touched the United States,” the person said in an email.

In Guatemala, reporters scoured court and land records to uncover evidence indicating that Súñiga probably laundered at least US$1.4 million through a scheme in which a fellow pastor bought properties and then resold them to the municipality Súñiga headed.

A municipal accord passed shortly after Súñiga came into office allowed him to grant at least three pieces of public land to people linked to convicted drug trafficker Juan Alberto Ortiz López, also known as Chamale. Ortiz was reported to have ties to Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa cartel.

A 2013 document from the Guatemalan authorities identified a mayor in San Marcos, the department that includes Ayutla, as someone “believed to be involved in drug trafficking.” A 2015 court document revealed that authorities wanted to strip the immunity Súñiga held as mayor, because he was suspected of money laundering. The court recommended he be prosecuted for money laundering, but charges were never brought against him. Súñiga remained in office another five years, 12 in total, until he surrendered to U.S. authorities in December 2019.

While other churches have also been accused of laundering the proceeds of drug sales, the cross-border investigation found that cash came from other sources too.


Biofuel Fraud

Jacob Kingston, a member of a Mormon sect primarily based in Utah, was involved in a $1 billion renewable fuel tax credit fraud scheme. Kingston headed of a company called Washakie Renewable Energy, which falsely claimed to be selling the cleaner fuel in order to access tax credits.

Kingston and his wife, mother, and brother all pleaded guilty to crimes relating to the biofuel scam, including money laundering and mail fraud. They cooperated with U.S. prosecutors, who brought charges against their accomplice Lev Dermen, a California businessman. Dermen was convicted in March, and he and the Kingstons are awaiting sentencing for the scheme that ran from 2010 to 2016.

The money trail began with Washakie, which would sell biodiesel to a company controlled by a co-conspirator. The same fuel would then be moved through another company the conspirator either had an interest in or controlled, giving the impression that it was being bought and sold on the open market. That company would resell the fuel as a biodiesel mixture to Washakie, which then claimed it qualified for tax credits.

“To further create the appearance they were buying and selling qualifying fuel, the co-conspirators cycled more than $3 billion through multiple bank accounts,” the U.S. Justice Department said in a March 16 statement.

The fuel was shipped around the U.S. and internationally. Kingston and Dermen “doctored production and transportation records” in order to claim renewable fuel tax credits, according to the Justice Department.

Washakie filed fraudulent Internal Revenue Service forms, and received checks in the mail from the U.S. Treasury Department. Dermen and the Kingstons would use various methods to hide the money, including depositing some in Turkish bank accounts, buying luxury vehicles, and purchasing real estate. Some money was laundered through the Kingstons’ Latter Day Church of Christ.

Prosecutors found that the church ended up with $194,040 out of over $71.6 million in payments from the Treasury Department, which passed through the church on its way through various companies and finally back to Washakie.

According to a separate complaint filed last year in a district court in Utah, the church’s doctrine includes a tenet called “Bleeding the Beast,” which justifies fraudulent conduct against outsiders to benefit the congregation.

A church spokesperson denied the practice, saying: “These allegations by a small number of ex-members are absolutely false.”

The biofuel scandal has not affected the church’s eligibility to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions.

“It’s this untouchability aspect that we have unintentionally crafted in the U.S. through several different mechanisms,” said Marci A. Hamilton, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who studies religion.

The reason “religious groups are so convenient for money laundering, parking proceeds, is that for federal tax files you don’t have to specify where your money came from and what you do with it,” said Hamilton. “There’s this black box quality to their public space.”


Further Investigation

The scope of the investigation shows how widespread across the Americas allegations of church involvement in money laundering are. Here are some of the cases reporters examined:

In Mexico, reporters looked into the case of Naasón Joaquín García, who heads a church called La Luz del Mundo. Authorities in California arrested Joaquín on charges of raping a minor and human trafficking, He is also under investigation in Mexico for laundering money. Members of his congregation allegedly hid cash on their bodies or smuggled it inside luggage into Mexico, where the church is connected to 51 properties. Naasón, his family, the church and a charity incorporated by one of his sisters are also linked to 31 properties in the U.S. estimated to be worth nearly $20 million. The country’s Financial Intelligence Unit is probing suspicious transfers of cash to accounts in Hong Kong, Bolivia, Poland, and the United States.

Mexico earlier this year froze about $19.4 million held in accounts connected to the church, according to local media reports.
A pastor from the Dominican Republic, Jorge Mercedes Cedeño, pleaded guilty before a Colombian court to belonging to a criminal organization called the Urabeños (now known as the Gulf Clan), which is one of Colombia’s most powerful drug cartels. According to his 2015 conviction, he managed a “good part” of their finances and bought property for them. The ruling also established that he wired money from the organization to his home country disguised as donations from parishioners. Cedeño had been caught in Colombia a year earlier carrying a large amount of cash.


Reporters discovered that an Argentinian prosecutor is investigating the country’s branch of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, a global behemoth that began in Brazil. Authorities detected suspiciously large cash deposits into church accounts between 2010 and 2014.


The case in Argentina illustrates how churches can be vulnerable to being co-opted for money laundering, according to Emilio Guerberoff, a prosecutor with the country’s Economic Crimes Jurisdiction.

“By receiving anonymous donations through tithes – whose origin may not be explained – churches become the perfect money laundering machine,” said Guerberoff, who is taking part in a probe.

“There may be a clash of interests between freedom of religious worship and the prevention of money laundering.”



* Stories thanks to incredible efforts of Columbia Journalism Investigations (U.S.), Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism, OCCRP, Mexicanos Contra la Corrupción y la Impunidad (México), Nómada (Guatemala), Canal 13 Noticias (Costa Rica), IDL-Reporteros (Perú), Infobae (Argentina), Agência Pública (Brazil), Folha de São Paulo (Brazil), La Diaria (Uruguay), El Tiempo (Colombia)

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×