This woman, ex-model and influencer forced followers into sex work, slavery, she is now...

Former Brazilian model and US-based health expert Kat Torres was found guilty of enslaving and trafficking one of those women, and she received an eight-year prison sentence. Women who allege Torres was their trafficker say it was a terrifying encounter. 

The women told the BBC that they were drawn to her rags-to-riches tale because she moved from living in a destitute Brazilian neighbourhood to attending parties with Hollywood celebrities.

In addition to claiming to be able to make predictions using her psychic abilities, Torres—who was formerly linked to actor Leonardo DiCaprio—was frequently seen on fictitious Brazilian television programmes. 

“She was on the cover of magazines. She was seen with famous people such as Leonardo DiCaprio. Everything I saw seemed credible,” the woman named Ana told BBC.

Torres' former flatmate told BBC that her Hollywood friends had introduced her to a hallucinogenic drug called ayahuasca. It was through the use of this drug that she reinvented herself as a life coach and hypnotist.

Soon, Torres developed a wellness website and subscription service that promised customers “Love, money and self-esteem that you always dreamed of.” 

She also created self-help videos offering advice on relationships, wellness, business success including hypnosis, meditation and exercise programmes. She offered one-on-one video consultations for $150 that would solve "any of their problems."