New York: Former Brazilian model and US-based wellness influencer Kat Torres has been sentenced to eight years in prison for human trafficking and slavery of women. The FBI, the agency investigating the case, found that two women living with her had gone missing in 2022. Women who worked with Kat Torres have claimed that they were also trafficked and enslaved. They have shared their painful experiences of living with Torres. Speaking to the BBC, the women have claimed that they were attracted to her rags to riches stories, as she went from living in a poor area of Brazil to partying with Hollywood stars.
Torres was once rumored to be dating actor Leonardo DiCaprio. She also claimed that she could make predictions using her spiritual powers and was a common face on iconic Brazilian TV shows. “She was on the covers of magazines. She was seen with famous people like Leonardo DiCaprio. Everything I saw felt credible,” a woman named Ana told the BBC.
Spiritual powers
Torres’ former flatmate Ana, who shared a house with her in New York, told the BBC that her Hollywood friends introduced her to a hallucinogenic drug called ayahuasca. It was through the use of the drug that she reinvented herself as a life coach and hypnotist. Soon, Torres developed a wellness website and subscription service that promised clients “the love, money and self-esteem you’ve always dreamed of.”
