Universal Church of the Kingdom of God

===Charges of fraud and money laundering===
In August 2009, a judge accepted prosecution charges against Macedo and nine other UCKG leaders, who were charged with [[fraud]] against the church and its followers. According to ''[[The Guardian (UK)|The Guardian]]'', government prosecutors accused the men of laundering more than US$2&nbsp;billion in donations from 2001 to 2009, and using much of it to purchase property, jewelry and cars; the newspaper also reported, "A $45m (£27m) executive jet, reportedly owned by Bishop Macedo, has become the most visible symbol of the scandal. Macedo was cleared of all charges and was issued a public apology following the dismissal of the case."<ref name="fraud"/>

Following a ten-year investigation, the São Paulo prosecutor reported the operation works as follows: donations were gathered from followers, and placed in private banks in both New York City (via Invest Holding, a private [[lending bank]]) and London. The money is sent through Cable Invest, a private bank located in the [[Cayman Islands]]. Finally, it is sent to Brazil though domestic lending companies "Cremo" and "Unimetro", lender banks that divide the funds among Rede Record executives, who in turn supply more money to UCKG officials.<ref name="fraud">{{Citation | last = Phillips | first = Tom | title = Brazilian evangelical leader charged with fraud | newspaper = The Guardian | date = 2009-08-13 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/aug/13/brazil-evangelical-leader-charged-fraud | access-date = 24 August 2009 | location=London}}
</ref>

On October 19, 2010, the São Paulo Justice Court (TJ-SP) annulled, by a majority vote, all charges made by the São Paulo Public Ministry against the UCKG and its principal representatives. The judges ruled that the São Paulo prosecutors did not have jurisdiction to investigate the case, as the accusations were of a type that fell into the federal jurisdiction.<ref> Agencia Estado, [https://g1.globo.com/brasil/noticia/2010/10/tj-sp-tranca-acao-contra-cupula-da-igreja-universal.html TJ-SP tranca ação contra cúpula da Igreja Universal], g1.globo.com, Brazil, October 20, 2010 </ref>