Law&Crime Sidebar - Twin Flames ‘Cult’ Under Fire from the Feds

Episode Date: July 3, 2025

An online spiritual community known as “Twin Flames Universe” is under scrutiny following allegations of coercion, financial exploitation, and identity manipulation. Jeff and Shaleia Divine, the founders of the group, reportedly convinced people to sever ties with their families and shell out tens of thousands of dollars for programs that promised to help them find their soulmate, referred to as their “twin flame.” Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber discusses the allegations that the group is a dangerous cult with former federal prosecutor Gene Rossi, as well as Cult Education Institute founder Rick Ross.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: If you received Depo-Provera birth control shots and were later diagnosed with a brain or spinal tumor called meningioma, you may be eligible for a lawsuit. Visit https://forthepeople.com/lcdepo to start a claim now! HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wonderly Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wonderly Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. View Shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller

that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. I questioned Jeff and his reply was how dare you question your God. What Jeff and Shaliyah do, it's control. That That is how one former follower described the leaders of Twin Flames Universe, an online group now at the center of a sweeping investigation, accused of coercion, financial exploitation, and spiritual manipulation. These self-declared spiritual gurus are facing potentially serious legal heat.

We're going to break it all down right now. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Hey, everybody. This is another law and crime legal alert. If you received Depro-Pravera birth control shots and were later diagnosed with a brain or spinal tumor called meningioma, you may be eligible for a lawsuit. That's right. Morgan and Morgan is investigating claims that patients weren't properly warned about this risk. It's free to check, just takes a few minutes, and you don't pay unless they win. So scan the QR code on screen, click the link below or go to 4thepeople.com slash LCD to see if you qualify. Well, things are certainly heating up in Michigan, where state and federal authorities have launched a sweeping investigation into a controversial online group that is accused of manipulating its members. The target, its Twin Flames universe, or TFU. This is this online spiritual community that claims to help people find their ultimate romantic partner, their soulmate. But behind the promises of love and divine connection, there are distrable.

disturbing allegations of coercion, financial exploitation, and identity manipulation. Allegations, to be clear, allegations. Now, the investigation was sparked in part by Netflix's explosive docu-series escaping Twin Flames, which exposed how group founders Jeff and Shalia Devine allegedly convinced followers to sever ties with family, shell out tens of thousands of dollars for coaching programs, and in some cases, undergo gender transitions, not out of personal conviction, but conform to the group's rigid spiritual framework. That was the main narrative or alleged narrative of this show. And just here's a chilling excerpt from the documentary. What Jeff and Shalya do has nothing to do with love,

it's control. I questioned Jeff. And his reply was, how dare you question your God? The image of Christ was actually me, the second coming, not Jesus the first coming. It's insane what I ask of you for you to have my divine light. Now, if you haven't seen escaping Twin Flames, it's streaming now on Netflix. It is a wild, wild ride. But now, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced a formal probe into TFU. In a major development, search warrants were executed at multiple properties linked to the group as part of a coordinated effort involving both state and federal agencies.

In a Facebook announcement, Nessel gave an update on the investigation, stating this. Today, my office, along with local law enforcement, the Michigan State Police, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, executed search warrants on two residences as part of our investigation into Twin Flames universe. Twin Flames is a largely online organization with leaders based in Lelah County, Michigan, that allegedly uses coercive control over its members, both in Michigan and across the United States. We believe that many of their actions may have been illegal,

and we're asking for the general public's help in this investigation. Anyone with information about potential criminal conduct regarding Twin Flames Universe, its operators, Jeff and Shaliyah Devine, Christine and Jason Emmerich, its related organizations, including the Church of Union, and the mind alignment process or their members are encouraged to contact my office and may do so anonymously. So investigators on the ground included special agents from the Michigan Department of Attorney General, U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General, Michigan State Police, and deputies from different county sheriff's offices. So I want to invite on right now

two special guests to help me break all this down. First, we got with us, Gene Rossi, former federal prosecutor, criminal defense attorney, and Rick Ross, a colleague. expert founder of the cult education institute and author of cults inside out how people get in and can get out. All right. So let's talk about it. Great to have you both here. Gene, why are all these agencies working together? Oh, very simple. And I'm surprised the federal Bureau of Investigation is not involved. The allegation, and I'm sure that's the allegation in the affidavits for the search warrants. And Rick can probably add on to this. It's probably mail and wire fraud.

They're arguing that there's a scheme to defraud people with a bait and switch. You join this, you know, Twin Flames universe, if you will, and I'm going to make your life better. I'm going to find you a partner. You're going to get spiritual support, yaddy, yada, yadi. And the fraud, wire and mail fraud is probably one day. get in the door, everything's different. You have to contribute, you have to give money, you have to do chores, you have to conform your life. And I was thinking about this about 10 minutes ago. Rick probably is very familiar with this. In November of 1978, in Guyana, Jim Jones had a cult.

And hundreds of people, literally, I'm not being facetious, drank to Kool-Aid, poisonous, and died and a cult is something that draws people in it consumes your life and you know one person's cult is another's religion so that would be their argument but but this is a massive investigation i am surprised that the fbi is not involved well before i go to rick real quick so at this point it's unclear what exactly was seized during the searches or which specific crimes are being investigated but we know that a judge found probable cause to issue those warrants that is significant right that means something there has to be some some indicia indicia there has to be some basis here there has to be something that they might be looking into right well when you get a search warrant

from a judge you have to establish probable cause that a crime has been committed and probable cause is about 40 percent certainty preponderance is 51% beyond reasonable doubts, like 90%, but probable causes 40% certainty. So they've persuaded a jurist for these search warrants. I don't know the exact number that their crime has been committed and that the location that they want to search and seize documents from is connected to that crime. So that's what they've proven with their affidavits. And I'm sure the affidavit is probably 70 to 100 pages long.

And it could be just wire and mail fraud. Those are your bread and brother. It could be identity theft. It could be a host of money laundering. It could be a lot of things that we're not aware of right now. But you're right. Getting search warrants is a huge deal. And what they seized is probably massive, documents, objects, things like that.

And it's going to take time for them to review the search warrant material. And we're going to get into what might be. going on here. But Rick, over to you. How would you classify Twin Flames universe based on what we know? Would you consider it a cult? Would you consider it a high control group? Would you consider it something else? I would consider it, in my opinion, a destructive cult. I think that Jeff, divine and his wife, Shalea, divine, are charismatic leaders that have become an object of worship, and that they use coercive control to manipulate and exploit their followers. And based on the complaints about the group, it is a destructive group.

People have been hurt very badly. Families have been hurt very badly. And the divines live in a mansion. That's where they were raided in Michigan. So they have profited enormously from this online group. And what's interesting about it is what we're seeing is typical of what's going on today, which is people are recruited through social media platforms. They follow cult leaders on Twitter, on Facebook.

They are indoctrinated through videos on YouTube, and they transfer money through VEMO and PayPal. So you can be a cult leader and work your cult remotely from your mansion in Michigan. And so I would think in the raid that has occurred, thereafter the hard drives, they're after all the evidence to show the trail of exploitation that these two have wrought. And look, the details of those warrants, they remain sealed, okay? But former members who spoke to Vanity Fair, they have painted a very troubling picture of life inside the Twin Flames universe or alleged picture. Because let's get into this. They allege that during the COVID-19 pandemic, The group housed so-called boot camp students who were expected to run errands, perform unpaid labor for the organization, all under the guise of spiritual training. Beyond that, TFU has been accused of operating exploitative pricing models,

with coaching courses reaching up to $8,88 for top-tier access. Former members also cited pressure to make large financial donations. Gene, is that, you know, forced labor? Is there a conversion aspect? to this that you might be looking in terms of potential criminal charges? Absolutely. And you've got an amendment to the United States Constitution talked about involuntary servitude. So you may have a statute that enforces that amendment. But here, because the Department of Labor is involved, you can guarantee that one of the theories is that

these individuals, these suckers, if you will, allegedly become members of this cult or this entity and they become indentured servants and they are pressured mentally if not physically to become essentially slaves that gets into labor laws where you have to issue not making this up you got to issue salaries and w-2s withholding so that's why the department of labor is probably involved Rick do you think the pandemic would play a role in making people more susceptible to joining high control online communities, that that's what this is? I mean, the larger question is, why do people join groups like this? Well, absolutely.

The pandemic caused people to be shut in, isolated. They would connect with people online. And these groups are trolling online. And no one deliberately joins a cult. It's really a bait-and-switch con. So what you think you're going to get, you're forever. spiritual partner is not what you end up getting. What you end up getting is exploited, taken advantage of, which no one imagines when they first become involved. So you might be

approached at a particularly vulnerable time in your life when you're going through something depressing, something stressful, and then online you see something that seems like an answer and that is deliberately deceptive to lure you in. And then you become submerged in the group. And what families are saying about Twin Flames universe is that when their loved ones become involved, they get cut off. People become socially isolated, embedded in the group.

And if the labor department is involved with labor violations, what you're seeing is what I see over and over again play out in many groups called cults, which is you can, make money off of free labor. If you have low overhead, you can run a restaurant, you can do a packaging subcontract, or you can just have people being your gophers, keeping everything running smoothly and not giving them really anything other than assurances and maybe some so-called spiritual counseling.

So let's talk about it because according to Twin Flames universe's belief system, it blends elements of Christianity with wellness coaching. And every person has this divinely appointed soulmate, their twin flame, who they're destined to be with no matter the circumstances. And after Jeff Ion and Megan Plant, so now we're talking about Jeff and Shaliyah Devine, met through a friend and connected through Facebook back in 2012. That's when TFU began. And they started with YouTube coaching videos, promising viewers they could find true love, just like the divines had. Over time, the group grew into a full-fledged online business. offering tiered memberships, coaching, spiritual content.

Packages can cost anywhere from $4,44 to $8,88, depending on the level of access. By 2019, Jeff claimed the organization was worth nearly $2 million. Their spiritual philosophy blends this kind of mysticism with Christian elements. In recent years, they've gone further, declaring themselves the Second Coming. Shaliyah is the Mother Christ, Jeff, the Father Christ. And at the time they said this, their future daughter, who is not. yet conceived is the princess of all creation. As for this whole twin flame concept, the founders say that a twin flame may not even realize there's someone's spiritual match. That is a concept

that has led to disturbing real-world consequences. And we'll get into that a little bit more. But Gene, again, going back to this, as we're talking about it, if we're potentially talking fraud or coercion or labor, I mean, we just covered the Diddy case. Is this Rico? Are we also thinking potentially Rico? Again, we're speculating because we really don't know what they're looking at. But I have to ask this question. Yes, academically. Academically, it could be Rico. What made Diddy's case unique is that he had a business that made a ton of money allegedly legitimately, you know, through his singing abilities and all that. And in the Diddy case, they were trying to put a square peg in a round hole because the entity,

that he allegedly was using to do his various predicate acts, it was legal and legitimate and made money on its own. Here, I'll call it Twin Flames. In the Twin Flames organization, the organization itself is an enterprise that we allegedly are thinking is corrupt. So Abinitio, at the beginning, the organization is corrupt. And Rick hit the nail on the head. You know, this is all about the con. On paper, on online, on paper, in their tax filings, it looks like a legitimate organization, but as these people enter the door, it becomes the con. So everything they've promised online is belied by their actions and the way they're treated when they get through the door. And that's where the rubber meets the road. You knock on the door, you think you're going to go

to heaven, you know, figuratively and absolutely going to hell because you're losing your money. So losing your identity. Yeah. Gene, does it all come down to consent? If I was an able, bodied, willing participant is all consent. There's no crime here. Absolutely. Because as I said, I think before, one man's cult is another man's religion. Right. You know, there are religions out there. I'm not going to mention names where we think it's a strange religion or challenging, but the people enter that religion and they consent to it. And those are legitimate. You got First Amendment protections. I may not agree with it, but a cult's a different thing. A cult is based on and survives only by deceit and exploitation. And that's the goal of those search words.

was their deceit and exploitation. And that's where the rubber meets the road. And Rick mentioned their mansions. Prosecutors love when fraudsters, RICO people allegedly, make a ton of money off of their fraud. So that mansion, if there is a conviction, is going to be forwarded. And that's a gold star for the prosecutors if they get a conviction. Rick, does what I describe some of these elements, do these character, are these characteristic of other groups you've seen before?

Well, sure. It's a parallel to Keith Ranieri and nexium. And as you may know, I testified as a fact witness in the criminal trial of Keith Rennary. And he did the same thing. You know, he was, it was all about coaching. It was all about a course curriculum, very expensive courses. But it ended up becoming.

coerced labor, coerced sexual favors. And Keith Renary is now serving a 100-plus-year sentence in federal prison. So he was convicted of racketeering, sex trafficking, fraud, and other members of the group also served time in prison. So this is nothing new. And what you see is coercive control. That is coercing members by creating unreasonable fears about leaving the group, by intimidation, by gaslighting and manipulating them, by isolating them from their families and old friends so that they become dependent upon the leaders to think for them, make value judgments for them. And in this particular group, the promise of having a spiritual partner or your twin flame, became very difficult because there were many women, not many men,

and they began to tell some of the women that they needed to become men in order to fulfill their twin flame, you know, destiny. And some of these women left the group, and they said, quite frankly, I'm not a lesbian, and I'm not interested in changing my gender. And others went along with the leaders. and conform to whatever they wanted. So this is a very twisted kind of thing where people really were hurt and damaged

and experienced personal injury and family estrangement. So TFU's relationship guidance, it is certainly raised additional red flags. Why? Because in one 2017 video, Jeff Devine instructed members to seemingly pursue their twin flames regardless of interest or existing relationships. So your twin flame may appear to be with someone else, but it's just a lie and you can choose differently.

This kind of advice has reportedly led to some serious legal consequences, supposedly, because as Vanity Fair reports, it wasn't uncommon for members to chase their so-called twin flame despite clear rejection or even legal boundaries. In one case, a woman recounted in a 2017 Facebook post that her supposed twin flame called her a stalker and threatened police action. Just two weeks later, she was on a bus to another country planning to relocate near him. And there was a response to the group that said, sounds like you're being guided to be closer and connected to your twin flame. God supports you on your next big step. And one of the most troubling allegations involves TFU's handling of gender identity.

You see, multiple former members, especially women said they were told they were actually divine masculine energies in female bodies and were allegedly pressured to change their names, their pronouns. their appearance. There were even those who began medical transition. One such member, Victoria Benia from Alabama, recall being paired with another female follower as her twin flame despite the fact that she identifies a straight. And when she expressed her discomfort, her coach allegedly insisted that the other woman was actually a man in spiritual form. She told Vanity Fair, I wasn't a lesbian. Now, Gene, based on the guidance that Jeff Devine gave encouraging people or allegedly encouraging people to pursue someone regardless

of their interest or relationship status, could that, you know, rise to some sort of level of criminal conduct? What is the legal line from your perspective as you listen to this? It all depends with any scheme. You have to, you have to compare what is promised and what is actually delivered. So if they're promising this, if they are promising this, even though what's crazy, I think it would be hard to prove a crime. It's just crazy. But if they're saying in their online literature and all that, something that's contrary to what they're trying to get this individual to do once they enter the door and they face the con, then you have fraud. And if there's money transacted to get this service, if you will, this counseling, that would be part of

the fraud. Rick, there's always like, not always, but it seems in a lot of times of these cases, there is a sexual component, right? And it also, if you're talking about, hey, listen, I can, I can find you your soulmate. That is such an attractive option. Everybody's looking for love. So you take something, I mean, if these allegations are true, you take something, supply and demand, people demand, people are wanting to find a soulmate and allegedly exploiting that. But also, there's always like this, it seems to be a lot of times a sexual component. What are you taking away from that? Well, I think that the women involved were people that were looking for someone to marry someone that they could have a lifelong relationship with. It wasn't so much a sexual thing

as it was a sense of fulfillment in marriage, family, et cetera. And of course, the group misled these women in multiple situations. And they told them one thing, and then when they became involved, they switched and said another thing. So in that sense, it's a bait and switch con. But I think there was an underlying feeling of having a fulfillment in a loving relationship that they promise these women. And I think there are many people, most of us, want to have a loving relationship. And here was a group that said they had a way, that they had a path to fulfilling that. And so many of these people were victimized by just the simple desire to have a loving relationship. And as this legal investigation into TFU continues, it presents challenges. So the group

operates almost entirely online. It complicates maybe jurisdictional questions. I'm going to ask Gene about that real quick. But it's a combination of spiritual teachings, for-profit coaching, blurs the line between what's considered religious freedom, consumer exploitation, and TfU said the allegations were misleading that in a public statement it defended itself. It reads, we take seriously recent allegations implying we wield inappropriate control over our community members after a careful review of both media coverage and recent productions. We are sad in that so much effort has gone into taking swipes at an organization and community founded on love and mutual respect.

The allegations levied against Twin Flames universe not only distort our true aims, methods, and curriculums, but also misrepresent the autonomy of our community members who are free to engage with our resources as they see fit. We are committed to confronting these allegations in an open and accountable manner. Now, in a video from May of 2025, the divines double down on their narrative,

saying they were just trying to explore and collaborate with their members. It's a spiritual work that we, that we share with you guys has real spiritual results as Twin Flame spiritual guru we were helping students do that on an individual basis at the pace they were asking and guess what

this was new not just to us but to literally planet earth no one else was doing what we were doing ever this was experimental and exploratory and it wasn't a Jeff and Shalia do as we say as the media likes to portray it. Yeah, I know.

This was a collaborative endeavor. Now, Gene, you hear that defense, but also you're looking at this investigation. What do you take away from that? And also, was I right? Are there jurisdictional issues? Are there certain issues that complicate a potential prosecution? The beauty of a conspiracy, and obviously the couple are at least two conspirators. And here's what I'd like to know.

There's a search warrant reveal, you know, multiple conspirators. But the beauty of a conspiracy is a conspiracy. is that wherever any overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy occurs, you have venue. So if there's a victim in California, there's a victim in Alabama, Florida, if there's a victim in any of the 50 states, including the territories, in D.C., that would be a basis for jurisdiction. It sounds like any interest would be with the U.S. Attorney's Office at the federal level in Michigan if they had the energy and passion to prosecute this. Right now, it's at the state level, right now, and the Department of Labor for the United States is involved. There's a possibility it may rise to a federal case where the U.S. attorneys are handling it.

because of the information obtained by the search warrant. One thing I would look for in a search warrant is one, how much money they're making, where is it going other than the mansion. And number two, you want documents, emails, communication, text messages that show the big lie, show that this couple knows it's a fraud and knows that they're conning people

and they're relishing it. If there's evidence to that, allegedly, this couple's in very deep trouble. You know, Rick, look, there's no charges as of yet. They are innocent until proven guilty. A lot of this is just allegations. But their defense, this idea of free choice, collaboration, in your experience, do groups use that language a lot of times? Well, of course.

And the fact that there's a kind of spiritual, religious overlay, they're going to say, well, look, this is a matter of faith. They had faith. Therefore, it wasn't fraud. They were true believers. They consented to be in the group. They participated because they wanted to. They gave us their money as donations or for coaching, et cetera. But the reality is, to what extent did they misrepresent themselves? And also, what kind of coercion did they use? And could you, see a pattern of undue influence? That is that the people involved were not acting in their own best interest, but consistently in the best interests of Jeff and his wife, the divines. I mean, were they, in fact, being manipulated? And I think when you see people again and again doing

something that doesn't benefit them but benefits the leaders, there is an issue of undue influence. And so I think that this is going to play out in that way. And to what extent did the divines coerce them? Did they threaten them with some type of spiritual retribution or that they would forever be lost and never find love and so on? Did they make them really afraid to leave? And in that sense, did they coerce them in order to exploit them? Well, the Attorney General's office has opened a tip line, urging anybody with information to come forward. And with escaping Twin Flames, sparking national outrage, this case has become more than just an investigation. It is reigniting a conversation.

So with that in mind, let me just leave you with another clip from that Netflix special. How much power have I given to these people? Dissolve the illusion and recognize. that you're actually a man. I felt like I didn't recognize myself. He already took my daughter. Anybody should be scared. It should be him.

I will never stop biting for my sister to come home. Man, the tea is now being spilled. And as the investigation unfolds, one thing is clear. In the search for love and meaning, some found something may be far more dangerous. We'll see what happens next. Gene Rossi, Rick Ross, thank you so much for taking the time. It was great seeing both of you.

Thank you. And that's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.