Scamfluencers - ENCORE: Brazil's Supermom | Part II

Episode Date: April 17, 2023

In the finale to this two-part saga, which originally aired in May 2022, suspicion builds around Flordelis and her mega-sized family as the investigation unfolds and the horrifying truth comes to light. When a suspect is arrested and Flordelis’ children begin to turn on her, it becomes clear that her saintly facade may have been the greatest con of all.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to scam influencers add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. This is the finale to our two-part series Brazil's Super Mom. If you haven't listened to the first episode yet I highly recommend you go back and do so. Sarah, I feel like you have like a hundred siblings, and I'm curious if any of your siblings ever tried to get you to take the blame for something that they did. Okay, first of all, I only have three siblings. That's a lot. And second of all, I am the baby of my family.

So of course, everyone was blaming shit on me all the time. Well, did you do it? No, I was innocent and I maintained my innocence. Well, the situation gets dicey for Flotelisa's kids really fast because after Anderson is murdered in June 2019, the cops have a lot of questions. I mean, wouldn't you? Yeah, I would have a lot of questions

even before the murder, but go on. It's the morning of June 16th, 2019, and Floteles' four-building compound in Rio Dijonero is packed. Even more so than usual, because an entire police task force is raiding the joint. The driveway is an active crime scene. It's where, just a few hours ago, a man was gunned down. It's where, just a few hours ago, a man was gunned down. And now the police are here asking questions and searching every nook and cranny for evidence. They and all of Brazil want to know. Who killed Anderson De Carmo? Yeah, I am also very curious.

There is a very long line of suspects here. Well, one of the cops that's handling the case is detective Renaud O'Leah. He's in his late 40s, and let me tell you Sarah, he is a ginger beef cake. He's got these big biceps and mutton chops. It's perfect for his side gig, which is singing and playing guitar

in a heavy metal cover band. Good for him. Everybody's got to relax somehow. Okay, good for him. Everybody's gotta relax somehow. Okay, and here's the other kind of bunker thing, is they have other things in common, which is that the detective has also been in a movie based on his life about a drug bust he was a part of. I need this trend of starring in your own bio-pick

to come to North America because it's genius. Well, detectably all starts interviewing everyone who lives with Floteles. And right away, he realizes that their stories are not adding up. Some of the family members say Anderson was killed as a part of a robbery gone wrong, except no one is willing to say that they actually saw burglars trying to break in. And Floteles, she's just sobbing uncontrollably the whole time that the cops are raiding her home. Yeah, that is definitely one way to not have to speak as to just sob uncontrollably.

Yeah, I don't really think it's working because Detective Leal consents that something is fishy here. So he orders background checks on the entire family and he reviews the security camera footage. The camera is actually point away from the compound which doesn't really make a lot of sense right? And so the cameras don't catch the attack but what they do catch is a teenager with close-crop tear pulling up in an uber around 2.45 a.m. which is just 15 minutes before the shooting. And in the footage he runs into the house while the uber around 2.45 am, which is just 15 minutes before the shooting. And in the

footage, he runs into the house while the uber waits for him. And then, a few minutes later, he jumps back in the car and speeds away. Detectively all recognizes him from the background checks that he ran. This kid's name is Lucas. He's an 18-year-old who float at least adopted adopted as a teenager and he has an outstanding warrant for selling drugs. So detectively I'll start with the basics. What was Lucas doing in the house just before the shooting? And Lucas explains.

He'd been out selling drugs, you know, normal stuff. And then he stopped by floatelies' house to stash his unsold goods so that he could go to a club. How crazy could the truth be where you're telling a detective? Sir, I was selling drugs, okay? Okay. Well, detective Leal keeps pressing

because he can sense that Lucas knows more. So he takes a calculated risk and he bluffs really hard. He says that the police have found the Uber driver and that he's talking. Ooh, yeah. Well, the bluff works. And once Lucas starts talking, he doesn't stop. He says the same Uber driver gave him a ride a few weeks ago

into a nearby favela, where he bought a gun. But he says he bought it for someone else, someone even closer to Floteles. And when Detective Leal follows this lead, he recovers exactly how dysfunctional this family is, and how many deep fissures have formed between Floteles' children. Soon Brazil's premier evangelical dynasty will completely fall apart. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondries Podcast American Scandal. Our newest series looks at the story of OxyContin,

a popular painkiller that helps spur an epidemic of addiction and drug abuse, in which prompted a broad campaign to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable. Listen to American scandal on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. Wondery's new podcast, Disantel, wades into the glorious mess of celebrity beef. Each episode explores a different iconic celebrity feud, and asks,

what does our obsession with these feuds say about us? Follow this and tell wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Ad Free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app. From Wondery, I'm Sachi Pull. And I'm Sarah Haggi. And this is Scam Flensers. I've sent you now, but I've been a little less than ten years to speak of you, I'll have been off your life, I'm latching. In our last episode, Flotelys' past or husband was shot in their driveway.

And she and her kids told the cops it was just a robbery gone wrong. But their stories are falling apart really fast. It's a public spectacle of global proportions. This is episode two of Brazil's Super Mom. I'm calling it bad at dying. It's June 17th, 2019, the day of Anderson's funeral and the day after Detective Lail interrogated Lucas,

Floteles' newly adopted son. And the cops are in the parking lot, and they're blocking traffic. They're wearing bulletproof vest and holding automatic weapons. And they're here because they have interest in one particular car, the one with float-a-least inside. They drag someone out and they make an arrest. It's Flavio, float-a-leases biological son.

Oh my God, I, for some reason, wasn't expecting the biological kids that she prioritized to really be caught in anything. Yeah. Flavio is in his late 30s, and he's lean with dark hair and a mustache, and he wears square glasses with transition lenses, you know, the ones that turn into sunglasses when you walk outside.

Yeah. Well, the police take Flavio down to the homicide division, which is just this plain looking office building across from a military compound. And there, detectively, Al Grills Flavio. He's there because Lucas told the police that Flavio is the one who pulled the trigger. Sarah, what do you think Flavio does next?

Honestly, based on this family and how the story's going, I genuinely cannot predict what Flavio does next. He could confess, he could run out there, he can like ingest a cyanide capsule that's in his tooth. Like I don't know. Yeah, I mean, this clearly isn't a family of criminal masterminds. So Flavio confesses to layout right away.

Oh my god. Well, we don't know for sure why he shot Anderson, but Flavio is just a few years younger than Anderson was. And he never liked that float at least remarried, or that she adopted dozens of kids when he was still a teenager. That's fair. And at some point when he was a kid, Flavio actually left.

He went to go live with his grandmother. But now at nearly 40 years old, Flavio is back, living in the compound. Two days after his confession, police searched the house for Flavio's cell phone. And instead, they find the murder weapon. A nine millimeter semi-automatic gun stashed above Flavio's wardrobe, and they find evidence that proves Flavio used the gun.

Sarah, I'm truly beside myself about this detail. Can you guess what evidence it is that they found? Um, I don't want to imagine it. Just tell me. What is it? Sarah, police find on the gun Flavio's pubes. Um, his pubes. I don't know how a significant amount of pubic hair could be on a gun. Once they find his pubic hair on the weapon, everyone knows for sure. Flavio is the one who shot and killed Anderson. But almost immediately, it becomes clear

that there's more to the story, like a lot more. I mean, obviously, there's a pubic hair on a gun. Go on. Someone in the family wants to tell the whole ugly truth, and their testimony will be the most damning of all. Soon after the police questioned Flavio and he confesses, they get an unexpected visit from one of Flodolese's grown adopted sons, a man named Wagner, and he tells them he's ready to talk.

Wagner is one of the five kids Flodolese adopted first, and she sometimes calls those five kids the first generation. Yeah, everybody wants their mom to rank them. You want to know exactly where you are in your mother's part, you know? No one healthy dynamic there. No, it's totally fine. Flotelies would bring the first generation on her midnight missions to drug dens and coked out dance parties, looking for lost souls to heal. Wagner says that he was in awe of Floteles. He was honored to be in on her holy mission.

He moved in with Floteles when he was 12 and he has stuck really close to her, even as an adult. He became a pastor in the Floteles ministry and he married one of Floteles' former assistants. And Wagner actually got into politics before his adoptive mom did. Flotelese ministry, and he married one of Flotelese's former assistants. And Wagner actually got into politics before his adoptive mom did. He's a city council member, and so he and Flotelese aren't just family, they're political allies. But some recent events have Wagner rethinking everything. Wagner says that after Flotelese got elected to Congress, she started acting differently.

Plus, she started complaining about how Anderson was controlling their finances. Wagner always looked up to Anderson as a father, figure, or a mentor. So he told Flotelese to just go talk to him, but Flotelese was way past talking. The first thing that really worried Wagner was when Anderson checked into the hospital

less than 48 hours after Floteles was elected. He had a fever, diarrhea, and severe stomach pain. Over the next few months, Anderson went to the hospital five more times for acute stomach aches. At the time, Wagner was worried about Anderson's health, and then he started to hear things that gave him even more cause for concern. Sarah, do you remember Floteles' daughter, Simone? Yes, Simone is her biological daughter, and my favorite fact, she dated Anderson before Floteles dated him and married him.

Yeah, truly exceptional memory for the absolute horrors of this tale. Well, Wagner tells police about a conversation he overheard one day. Simone told Floatelese, Mom, now that you're a congresswoman, we don't need him anymore, do we? And another day, Floatelese told Wagner that Anderson wouldn't make it through this year because he was hindering the work of God.

Okay. Okay. Yeah. And just in case this isn't clear enough yet, one of his adopted brothers told Wagner not to eat or drink anything at their mother's house because Floteles is trying to kill Anderson. They were just kinda like, yeah, just be chill. But don't eat anything because, you know,

so many people, so many cooks in the kitchen, you might end up eating Anderson's poison food. But listen, at least Wagner went to float Elise, but she denied it. She said she was mixing Anderson's regular medication with juice because he didn't like taking pills. And Wagner says that he believed her. But on June 16th, when Wagner gets the early morning call that Anderson has been shot, his wife tells him they did it.

They killed your father. At the hospital and then at the funeral, Wagner says he could tell that Floteles wasn't really crying. He says she was just acting. There was no denying it anymore. Wagner had to face the truth that his mother was a clear suspect in his father's murder. Wagner readyes himself for the fight of his life. Detectively I'll seize Wagner as a star witness.

I mean, I guess that makes sense, right? Like, he's really got the juice about his own family. Yeah. And he's on the inside. He knows everything. Yeah. And he's willing to cooperate fully. So, Leal starts building a case.

He asks about Wagner's upbringing, how things really worked in Floteles' house, and it's not the pretty picture she painted for the media, unsurprisingly. Wagner says that the house was overflowing with people, which I guess makes sense if you have like 55 children. There were kids sleeping on the sitting room floor and under the kitchen table,

a dozen babies would crowd into one cot. And he says that every time somebody sat on the sofa, Sarah, they would get skabies. She didn't have enough money at first. Yeah, to take care of a few children, let alone 55. But here's the thing, when the first five adopted kids, those first generation children, when they moved in with floatelies in the early 90s,

things weren't so bad. Lagnars says they were just completely overwhelmed by floatelies as presents. But according to many of the kids who were adopted later, the biological and first gen kids got preferential treatment. In some say, floatelies in Anderson kept a special, did later, the biological and first gen kids got preferential treatment. In some say, Floteles and Anderson kept a special, better-stocked fridge in their room, and only the older kids had access to it.

The younger kids, a bread-for-breakfast, had rice, pasta, and sausage for lunch, and for dinner. This is insane! And at one point, Floteles started assigning newly adopted kids to older kids who became responsible for their care. One daughter says that Flotaly's never acted as a real mother to her. She says that when she got her first period, her appointed brother had to explain what to do.

If my brother was the person who had to explain my first period to me, I would build a boat, intended to sink, and float away into the ocean to my own death. Absolutely. So detective Leal is starting to piece together a picture of this incredibly complicated family dynamic. And based on the interviews he's done with Lucas and Wagner, he sees that there is a schism in the family.

There are those who are loyal to Floteles and those who are loyal to Anderson. And Lucas tells the police that Simone acted kind of like a consiglieri in the house. She would watch the other kids closely and report any misbehavior to Floteles. That is terrifying. One of Floteles', I guess, cops living in your home. And I imagine there were lots of dynamics about having her biological daughter be the consiglieria amongst all the adopted kids. Of course, of course, there was like a total hierarchy here.

Yeah. And that power struggle between these two splinter cells, it got worse when Flotelice was elected. Simone later says that Flotelice was a puppet in Anderson's hand, that he controlled her in every way. In political meetings, Simone says Anderson took the lead and wouldn't even let Flotelice speak. Yeah, I mean, again, it's so hard to know what the truth is here,

because of course, Simone is gonna be saying that. Yeah, yeah, everybody has an agenda in this story. Detectively, all things Flotelice felt stuck and that she wanted to be free of Anderson's vice-like grip over her career and her finances. I mean, I think the religious aspect of this is so potent. She felt like she was one with God

and she would have eternal salvation because she was doing the right thing, even though she wouldn't just get a divorce, which, you know, that's neither here nor there at this point. But Flotelese felt forced to make a choice, and what she chooses takes her into the darkest possible timeline. That's impossible. There's no darker timeline. Oh, baby girl, it gets worse. I feel like a...

So, after Wagner starts cooperating with the investigation in June 2019, Detective Leal and his team round up all the siblings that Wagner identified. And he interrogates them separately so they can't compare notes. And again, these are not criminal masterminds, so their stories all fall apart. But that helps police build out a theory of the case. Sarah, do you have any guesses on what the theory is? I feel like Floteles made it clear

that she wanted Anderson to die. Simone was like, gotcha, this is what my boss wants. We need to kill Anderson. So you guys figure it out. Yeah, I mean, I guess that's close. The detective and his team start piecing together all the events leading up to Anderson's murder. They check the family's mobile devices,

their Google searches. And Sarah, I gotta tell you some of the searches that came up on three of the kid's phones. I would really appreciate if you could read it to me. Someone bad-ass. Second search. Assassin. Third search. Poison to kill a person that is lethal and easy. I just, I have to read her right here. I know we're talking about someone's kids. These are adults. They're still grown-ups. Fully grown people. And also, like, they are plotting a murder. Okay, when someone Googles this, what do they expect to show up?

I mean, Sarah, I think you should Google it and find out. You're not putting me in that position. I mean, you're a journalist and you don't wanna do your due diligence by Googling assassin where to find. Where to find. It's all assassin's creed. Did you Google assassin where? Yeah.

All right, Sarah. So what the investigation team eventually learns is that Floteles is child assassins, though again, they are adults. They actually try the poison root first. In the fall of 2018, they start lacing Anderson's food with arsenic and later with cyanide. And he did get really sick, but he managed

to recover each time. Someone was selling them fake cyanide, 100%. But obviously, the family was having a bit of a hard time getting rid of Anderson. And one daughter says that Floteles told her, if you want to kill him, it will have to be bullets. Floteles denies this. In any event, when the poisoning doesn't work,

the kids loyal to Floteles hire a hitman to kill Anderson. Oh, yeah, from where to find a assassin. Assassin, where to find. Yeah. And this hitman is supposed to ambush Anderson as he, yeah, from where to find his house. Assassin, where to find. Yeah. And this hitman is supposed to ambush Anderson as he leaves church one day. But Anderson leaves in a borrowed car, which foils that plan completely.

This is like a screwball comedy at this point. Like, oh, we can't kill him. And then after the hitman failed and the poisoning didn't work, Simone actually asks her boyfriend a former cop to kill Anderson, but he says no, and then they break up shortly after. Wow, if their relationship can't withstand that, then probably a good idea. Yeah, they probably weren't meant to be.

And a witness later tells police that Simone said that Anderson is bad at dying, which is arguably true. He has survived more assassination attempts than I think anybody I know. Well, the child assassins do what so many organized crime families do. They turn to one of their own to take on the most grizzly task. They're most recently adopted brother, Lucas. He's just 17 at the time, so still under age, still a child.

And this family looks at one of its youngest members and sees a fall guy. That is so upsetting. I hate these people. And Lucas isn't even living with them at the time. He tells Detective Leal that Anderson was always lecturing him about his life choices, like his drug habit, and he found it so tiresome that he moved out. So he's crashing at the mechanic shop where he works. One day, he gets a WhatsApp message from another adopted kid at Flotelys' house.

It's one who's loyal to Flotelys, and she says that no one in the house can stand Anderson anymore, and that the family has an offer. One they hope he won't refuse. Lucas tells the cops that they offered to pay him the equivalent of about $850 American dollars. Plus, he would be able to keep Anderson's collection of wristwatches. Lucas says no, absolutely not, but the family keeps bugging him. And by the way, this is all happening in early 2019,

which is around the time that Flotelice is sworn into office. This is crazy. She's being sworn into office. Obviously got a bunch of people to vote for her. Right, and she also got elected in part because she's bragging about all these kids that she takes care of, right? Wow, yeah.

Eventually, Lucas does agree to go get the gun. But detective Leal figures out that at some point, Flavio was chosen to do the actual shooting. Some of the other kids were supposed to make it look like an attempted robbery gone wrong, and still others were supposed to distract potential witnesses. So everyone has a role in this murder. It really is a family affair. And again, it's all happening while Floteles, an elected official, is making these heart-wrenching public speeches about the power of adoption. Like this one posted to her YouTube channel just two months before Anderson's death.

She's talking about eliminating the red tape around adoptions in Brazil. Well, finally, in the early hours of June 16th, all of that planning comes to a head. Anderson is gunned down in his own home. And when Detective Leal arrives at the murder scene, he has one burning question. It's a question that'll unlock the entire case. Were the Floteles loyalists acting alone? Or were they taking direction from a higher authority? A few months into the investigation, the cops hit a wall.

Floteles and Anderson cell phones are both missing. Detective Leal and his team spend ages trying to guess Anderson's password to download the data from the cloud. And Sarah, one day, it works. What? It was password. I don't know what it is. I wish I knew, but whatever the case is, they guess right, and all of Anderson's digital

history is suddenly at their fingertips. And they also say understood a lot more after that. By August of 2020, six more family members are in police custody. Oh, my God. Yeah. So the police have sussed out the family criminal conspiracy. But there's one suspect who's going to be a lot tougher to smoke out of her compound. The Godmother herself.

Float Elise. That's because Sarah, in Brazil, high ranking politicians cannot be arrested unless they're caught red-handed committing a crime. The only way to prosecute floatilies is if lawmakers revoke her immunity. Or basically if they vote to impeach her entirely. And I mean, this law, I get it, it makes sense. It's there to protect them from political persecution, right? Like, this is a country with a recent history of military hunters

and other violent political unrest. Meanwhile, the police are working non-stop to build an airtight case against Flotelice. And they start by combing over Flotelice's story about the night before Anderson was killed, which was their big date night. Sarah, do you remember it? You're torturing me right now because you know how much I hated it. Well, you gotta tell it back to me. They go to the beach, they eat fried fish, they engage in teenage activity on top of a car.

That is truly an insane way to build an alibi, to be like, yeah, I didn't murder my husband, we actually had an amazing night that involved Boynking on a Honda. I guess she was trying to build an aura husband, we actually had an amazing night that involved boyking on a Honda. I guess she was trying to build an aura of being so in love that they had to have sex on a car. Absolutely.

Well, then the police learned something that seems to prove their theory is right. They hear that two weeks after Floteles was elected in October 2018, she told one of her sons, I will find a way out because I cannot separate so I don't scandalize the church. This is it, this is the motive they've been looking for. So police charge Floteles with quote,

orchestrating the homicide and listing several of her grown children to take part in the crime and attempting to disguise it as an armed robbery. The other shoe has finally dropped, and now, Flotelisa's entire empire will begin to crumble. So, as soon as she's indicted, Flotelisa's political party suspends her. And as the investigation continues, witness testimony gets leaked, and former and current adoptees

all paint a much grimmer portrait of the so-called mother of the nation. At least three families come forward claiming they left their kids with Floteles during a time of personal trouble and could never get them back. That's actually what happened to Wagner. His birth mother tried to get a hold of him after he left,

but he didn't return her calls. Floteles told him that he didn't need that family anymore. Yeah, that level of brainwashing and manipulation is so insane. And also, it feels like it's the only way you could have 55 children, you know? Yeah, and Floteles expected her kids to like, kind of worship her. Flotelese told Wagner and the other boys that she had died and was reincarnated as an angel,

and that they'd been sent to protect her. Wagner says she once gave him a dagger, which she said was to kill the beast. And this is when it starts to like really become cult-like, you know what I mean? Yeah, there is something really blasphemous about her behavior. Like Wagner says that he was put through a purification process where he was locked in a room for 21 days. Other kids told police that they had similar experiences with even darker consequences. At least one former adoptee told police

that he and Floteles had a sexual relationship. And to be clear, Floteles denies all of this, but it's really predatory behavior. Yeah, I mean, she gave him this idea that this is their only home where they belonged, like that they were a part of something greater. And again, that's how you really manipulate people. Yeah. And despite the allegations flying around her,

Floteles declares her innocence. And she's still willing to do anything to protect herself. Even if it means sacrificing more of her family. And I feel like I like it. In the fall of 2020, Floteles makes her most brazen move yet, to clear her own name and the name of one of her favorite kids, Flavio. She writes a letter claiming that Wagner directed Lucas, the team who bought the gun, to kill her husband, and that Lucas was the one who fired the murder weapon. Another biological son gets the letter to Lucas in prison, somehow, and tells him to copy the letter in his own handwriting and submit it as evidence.

This is intended to clear Flavio, who confessed to police that he killed Anderson, but then retracted it. Flodeles promises Lucas that if he takes the fall for the murder, she'll stand by him. This is absolutely bananas. This won't, this can't even work. Like, you're caulked lady. Yeah. Instead, Lucas tells investigators exactly what Flotelys is up to.

Here's a clip from the Brazilian news site Globo.com. He's telling the Congressional Ethics Committee that Flotelys wrote the fake letter and sent it to him. Her signature was even on the original. And then after that, Flotelie's gets forgery charges tacked onto her rap sheet. Her son, who gave the letter to Lucas, is arrested. And so now, all three of her biological kids are in jail. Curst, absolutely cursed. Flavio gets a really stiff sentence for killing Anderson. In November 2021, he was sentenced to 33 years in prison.

Lucas gets nine years for purchasing the gun. I feel really bad for Lucas. Yeah. And to a point, I do kind of feel somewhat bad for Flavio because it's like he was born into this awful, awful dynamic. And now the Ethics Committee is voting on whether to impeach Flotelice and strip her of her immunity. And for the first time in her life, Flotelice discovers that she can't charm her way out of this one. On the day of her impeachment vote in August 2021, Flotelice walks into Brazil's chamber of deputies. And the space is this massive, futuristic, round room with a blue carpet and soaring ceilings. It looks like a shot in our era star trek scene.

And Flotelese is wearing a modest floral dress, her long wig falls in her face. She steps to the podium to address her fellow federal deputies, and she is begging them not to impede her. Here, watch this clip from YouTube. her old deputies, and she is begging them not to impeach her. Here, watch this clip from YouTube. Here, Flo De Lis is destroyed.

Here Flo De Lis is destroyed, she says. She says, I know I'm innocent and I will prove it. She begs for due process, and then she adds, don't impeach me. I'm innocent. And you'll regret it. legs for due process, and then she adds, don't impeach me. I'm innocent. And you'll regret it. I don't think she really wants due process at this point. No.

If that was a thing that was available or like an option, none of this would have happened, because she would have been in jail years ago. Yeah. Well, it doesn't work anyway. On August 11, 2021, find overwhelming 437 to 7 vote, the Brazilian lower house votes to impeach Flotelies. I would love to know who those seven stragglers are.

I know you would too, Sarah. I wanna take a peek into their brains. Mm-hmm, they should be donated to science, yes. And Flotelies calls the decision cruel and cowardly. That same day, she posts a video to social media, no wig, no makeup, listen to this. Well, I think she says, the day nobody wished for has arrived.

I'm being arrested for something I did not do. Pray for me. And then also in this clip, there's like a bunch of kids running around in the background. It's astounding that she's still making these videos hide Flotelese. Your taste are numbered. She does not hide. Two days after she's impeached, Flotelese is taken to prison.

She's escorted to a police car in the same driveway where Anderson was shot, clutching a Bible. She shouts, faith in God. The Bible is comically large. It is such a big Bible. It is the size of her entire torso. Oh my God. And her mugshot goes viral.

Do you want to take a look? Okay, I just need to say this is Flotalease as I have never seen her before. It's a very unflattering muck shot. Also, she's not wearing her signature caramel-colored wig, and she almost looks like a completely different person. The look on her face is one of like, how dare this be happening.

Yeah, a lot of entitlement, a lot of rage, and it's kind of like the first time she's been held accountable for anything. At this point, it seems like Floteles has finally been brought to justice. She's been stripped of her political career, her gospel singing, her ministry, and her family is completely splintered. But she never once accepted blame.

And she acted like she was untouchable. You know what, she still has some true believers. On Instagram, she still has 859,000 followers, and someone is clearly monitoring the account because it's still being updated, and I could only find positive supportive comments. Okay. You telling me this isn't used because after we recorded the first episode, I followed her instantly. And let me tell you, it is, whoever's in control of this is posting a lot. Yeah.

Like, I had to mute floatelies. Well, the next chapter for floatelies begins at her criminal trial. Five of her kids are standing trial as well. I think she is a prime example of a generational scam-fl Insuring. And I'll tell you why. OK. This started before the internet was a thing. And she was able to influence a nation into being like,

this woman is an angel for adopting 55 children. It was always the float-a-leash show. It was always only about her power and how she was able to convince people to do that and stop drug dealers from doing this. And she continued on this con for so long. Yeah, I think anytime you combine a scam with like internet influence, but also religion, you can get away with so much.

People are far less willing to be critical of something if you say you're doing it on behalf of God. You know, it's so unimaginable, the scope of this, that knowing it's possible is like a whole new world was created in my mind. Sarah, you are right. This is one of the most twisted stories I have ever heard, and I don't know how we're gonna top this story on our show. You'll have to keep listening to find out,

and until then, remember, divorce is always an option. This is a good lesson for us all. Until next week. Hey, prime members, you can listen to Scample Inswers, add free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. Or you can listen to add free with Wendry Plus and Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself

by completing a short survey at Wendery.com slash survey. This is episode two of our two-part series, Brazil's Super Mom. I'm Saty Cole and I'm Sarah Haggy. And a reminder to you all, our scam fam. We're going on break for three weeks. You know that's a long time to go without a juicy scam story, but stay strong. The stories we have queued up for you. Well, let's just say they're worth the wait. We used many sources in our research. A few that were particularly helpful were John Lee Anderson's article at the New Yorker

and Tom Phillips's report for the Guardian. And just a quick note about our scenes, in most cases, we can't know the exact details about what happened, but everything in our show is grounded in research. Carol Perez wrote this episode, additional writing by Sarah Enne and Us, Sachi Cole and Sarah Haggi. Our senior producer is Jen Swan.

Brian Taylor White is our producer. Our associate producers are Charlotte Miller and Tate Busby. Our senior story editor is Rachel B. Doyle. Sound Design is by Jay Rothman. Additional audio assistance provided by Adrian Tapia. Our music supervisor is Scott Velasquez for Freeze On Sink. Our executive producers are Janine Cornelot, Stephanie Jens, and Marshall Louis for Wundery.