The prosecutor's office of the Argentine city of San Carlos de Bariloche has filed charges against 21 Russian citizens, including the organizer of the religious sect Shambhala Ashram Konstantin Rudnev, accused of sexual exploitation, the prosecutor's information portal reported.
„The decentralized prosecutor's office of San Carlos de Bariloche has filed charges against 21 individuals with Russian citizenship for participating in a criminal organization that, for the purpose of sexual exploitation and deprivation of liberty, lured a 22-year-old girl brought from Russia, who gave birth to a child on March 21 in a hospital in this city in the province of Rio Negro“, the website says.
According to the prosecutor's office, the suspects wanted to register the father of the newborn leader of the sect so that subsequently, he applied for Argentine citizenship and obtained a residence permit in Brazil. According to Argentine investigators, the criminal group lured the alleged victim "under the pretext of spiritual practices and took advantage of her situation of extreme vulnerability." In addition to Rudnev, who according to Argentine authorities has been wanted in Montenegro since October last year, the investigation includes another man and 19 women. One of the women is accused of "attempted forgery of documents." Two other suspects were charged with drug trafficking. According to the prosecutor's office, 13 suspects are in custody. The rest are awaiting decisions on their cases at large. As part of the investigation, the prosecutor's office checked the correspondence on the detainees' phones, which allegedly confirmed the suspicions.
Argentine law enforcement authorities turned their attention to Rudnev after medical workers at the San Carlos de Bariloche hospital called the police because of suspicions that a pregnant Russian woman visiting them might be a victim of a human trafficking ring. According to their doctors, it was strange that the girl came for examinations accompanied by two women who did not allow her to speak. The first arrests were made at the San Carlos de Bariloche and Buenos Aires airports on March 28.
On March 31, the Russian Embassy in Argentina reported that it had been informed by local law enforcement authorities about the detention of a group of people, possibly with Russian citizenship, suspected of involvement in human trafficking. The transferred list included 13 people.
In Russia, Rudnev was charged under several articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - organizing an association that violates the personality and rights of citizens, rape and sexual violence, as well as illegal possession of drugs. In 2013, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison; in 2021, he was released after serving his sentence.