Brazilian police dismantle criminal ring posed as religious sect to con members

Brazil's Federal Police (PF) on Monday disbanded a criminal ring that was disguised as a religious sect to swindle members millions in donations and force them into slavery.

Dubbed "Return to Canaan", the early morning operation "dismantled a criminal organization that used a religious sect to take control of the assets of the faithfuls, submitting them into forced labor, under slavery-like conditions," the PF said in a press release posted on its website.

The organization was operated mainly in rural areas across three states, namely, Minas Gerais, Sao Paulo and Bahia. Investigators estimate the assets it received in the form of donations from the faithfuls amount to more than 100 million reals (28.6 million U.S. dollars), the PF said.

About 190 PF officers took part in Monday's operation, detaining six suspects and confiscating property, vehicles and cash in the three states.

"The investigations revealed the leaders of the religious sect kept the people in slavery at ranches where they carried out their religious rituals," the PF said.

"The faithfuls were persuaded to donate what they had, with the promise that they would be living in a community where everything belonged to everybody, and later forced to work without any compensation," the PF added.

The police did not say what the sect was called, but some media reports say the group went by the name "Jesus Evangelical Community."