Aust police hope for alleged cult leader to be deported
Agape Ministries leader Rocco Leo was arrested in Fiji last week, with his closest associates Marie Veneziano and her brother Joseph, for visa breaches.
According to Nine MSN, Leo allegedly fled Australia last year just before South Australian police raided several of the cult’s properties in Adelaide, seizing guns, slow burning fuses, detonators, extendable batons and 35,000 rounds of ammunition.
He allegedly told followers they must move to an island before the world ends.
The South Australian Police want him deported so they can extradite him from another state and arrest him on a warrant issued for 126 counts of alleged fraud.
Detective Superintendent Jim Jeffery said that in March 2011 a shipping container allegedly bound for cult members in Fiji was found to contain batons, a manual on how to make weapons and components of ammunition.
Aside from the weapons, Leo is alleged to have deceived former cult members about money.
Superintendent Jeffrey said 17 members of the cult had moved to Fiji over the past year, from South Australia and Victoria, including four or five children.
Meanwhile Fiji’s Immigration Department will decide on further action today in relation to fugitive Australian cult leader, Rocco Leo and two others who are currently detained at an undisclosed location in Fiji.
Immigration Director, Major Nemani Vuniwaqa said they have taken the three people into immigration custody because they are currently staying illegally in the country.
Major Vuniwaqa said there are also a number of allegations leveled against Rocco Leo.
Story by: Vijay Narayan
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