According to our exclusive information, a New York law firm is currently preparing a lawsuit against the Miss Universe organization , but is encountering significant difficulties in filing it, as the Miss Universe leadership appears to be nowhere to be found. Raul Rocha has been indicted for money laundering and is accused of arms, drug, and fuel trafficking, while the other co-owner of the pageant, Anne Jakapong, is wanted by Interpol. Furthermore, Mario Bucaro, the former Guatemalan Minister of Foreign Affairs appointed to take over the organization, recently resigned. As a result, no one is reachable, and the organization seems to have been left to its own devices. As for the various requests for guarantees against fraud for the upcoming election in Puerto Rico, no response has been given. The only person acting as if nothing is wrong remains Fatima Bosch, Miss Universe, who wears an illegitimate crown from an organization that no longer even exists.
The public and the contestants were deceived.
MUO's practices deceived contestants, national franchises, and the public. In early November, viewers, including in the United States, were invited to vote via the Miss Universe app in several categories such as Best Skin, Best Evening Gown, and Miss Congeniality. Each user could vote once per category for free, with the option to purchase additional votes for $0,99 each.
Votes were upheld despite predetermined results.
Some categories, notably the “People’s Choice,” remained open for voting until November 19, even though the 30 finalists, and very likely the winner, had already been selected by November 17. A similar situation reportedly occurred with the parallel competition Beyond the Crown, where voting allegedly remained open even though the winner had already been chosen by a jury with serious conflicts of interest.
Omar Harfouch resigns from the jury
After making these revelations, on November 18, Omar Harfouch officially requested that MUO restart the selection process for the 30 finalists under proper conditions, with the supervision of the official selection committee. Having received no response, he publicly announced his resignation via social media, denouncing the intervention of an undeclared, secret jury. Shortly afterward, Claude Makélélé, another member of the selection committee, also resigned for personal reasons. Despite these departures, the preliminary phase of the competition continued the following day with the appointment of two replacement judges.
Sentences can range up to 20 years in prison.
According to its representatives, the actions attributed to MUO and certain executives could also fall under U.S. federal criminal law, including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, and money laundering. These offenses carry sentences of up to 20 years in prison.
Indeed, in the United States, several federal laws address fraud and money laundering with severe penalties. Wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1343) penalizes the use of interstate communication methods such as the internet or telephone to deceive someone and obtain financial gain, with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison (30 years if a financial institution is involved). Money laundering (18 U.S.C. § 1956) criminalizes the concealment or transfer of funds derived from criminal activities, also punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Finally, conspiracy to commit these offenses (18 U.S.C. §§ 371 and 1956(h)) carries the same penalty as the underlying offense, making it possible to punish the planning and association involved in carrying out fraud or money laundering. In practice, combining these charges in the same case can result in very heavy cumulative sentences.
A competition rigged from the start
Omar Harfouch believes the competition was flawed from the outset, with the selection of candidates tainted by corruption and fraud. He asserts that the initial selection of the 30 finalists was not carried out by the official committee, but by a secret, hastily assembled jury, operating without transparency and without informing the officially appointed judges.
The artist considers this situation a deception, damaging his professional integrity, his international reputation, and the trust he had placed in the organization. He believes his participation served to lend an appearance of credibility to a competition whose results were already predetermined.
