PARIS (AP) — To his followers, he was “Grieg,” their guide through tantra yoga toward enlightenment and a higher state of consciousness. For European police, Gregorian Bivolaru represents a far more sinister figure: a master manipulator accused of sexual abuse and exploitation.
The arrest this week in the Paris region of the 71-year-old yoga leader and 40 others marked the culmination of a six-year police manhunt involving Interpol. The sweep, led by a French police unit that combats crimes committed by sects and which mobilized 175 officers, also freed 26 people, described by French authorities as sect victims who’d been housed in deplorably dirty and cramped conditions.
On Friday, 15 of the suspects were being presented to a judge who could hand them preliminary charges. French police have for months been investigating a range of suspected crimes, including rape, human trafficking, illegal confinement and preying on followers as part of a sect.
It wasn’t possible to reach Bivolaru, who is in custody, and it wasn’t immediately clear if he had legal representation.
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