Kriti Mehrotra
With Netflix’s ‘Illusions for Sale: The Rise and Fall of Generation Zoe’ delving deep into how a spiritual coaching network turned out to be a bizarre pyramid scheme, we get a documentary unlike any other. That’s because it incorporates not just archival footage but also exclusive interviews to really shine a light upon the way it reportedly stole over hundreds of millions from users across the globe within years. And one of the primary individuals apparently involved in this scam was none other than this title organization’s Vice President, plus founder Leonardo Corsitorto’s right-hand man, Maximiliano “Max” Batista.
Maximiliano “Max” Batista Was an Early Generation Zoe Executive
It was reportedly back when Max was merely 11 years old that he first started working for money, meaning he has been surviving on his own as a hard worker for over three decades. Whether it be warehouses, ice cream shops, or funeral homes, he did it all, only to soon suddenly come across Leonardo at the age of 18, the latter essentially taking him under his wing. “[He] had a direct sales company,” the then-youngster conceded in the aforementioned original. “You’d see him driving a Toyota Country, an amazing car. He wore the best suits, like Hugo Boss, and I used to buy my clothes secondhand. You could see that people admired him.
Max added, “[People] applauded him, and he’d give his talks. I thought he was amazing and wanted to be just like him… So, I started working for that company.” He still vividly remembers Leonardo had once asked him what he needed, and when he’d replied audio equipment as well as a fridge, he was simply told he’d be given what he required if he managed to evolve into a manager. “I remember that I worked so hard that in four and a half months, I became a manager. But hey, life happens. I was in the company for seven to eight months, and during that time, I disagreed with him on many things. So, I left the company and started on my own.”
Max was admittedly doing very well until the pandemic hit, owing to the things he’d learned from Leonardo, just to suddenly hit a stall he could’ve never imagined. He went from having an apartment of his own, four cars through his service at a card company, and pure stability to nearly nothing as his primary job as a door-to-door salesman hit, and people remained good. “I went outside with a little table and sold perfumes, lotion, and hand sanitizer to people,” Max said, only to soon reconnect with Leonardo as he lived right around the corner from his office, was planning a new project, and was in desperate need of a mental personal development coach.
Therefore, since Max admittedly loved the spotlight and the payment for each talk and was actually great at it, he continued even as the organization began expanding to Generation Zoe. In fact, his influence on consumers with the combination of his bubbly personality and motivational words was such that Leonardo knew he had someone special, making him decide he needed more of him. So, in November 2020, he became the Vice President of Generation Zoe, thinking his life’s purpose was to continue giving talks and touching people’s thoughts and lives. The fact that Leonardo wanted someone non-interfering, and he was perfectly content with sticking to going on stage and giving talks suited them too.
“Being next to Leo meant always talking about possibilities, growth, of what was going to happen, of what could come,” Max candidly conceded at one point. “People would come up to me and say, ‘Uncle Max, I have a business idea to bring in.’ And the first thing I’d say to them was, ‘Don’t talk to me, talk to Leo. He’s the owner.’ He’d take ownership of all the ideas and projects.” In other words, he completely believed in the business model and was gladly supportive of it every step of the way, which is why it came as a massive shock to him in early 2022 when he realized there was an Interpol arrest warrant against him for actively partaking in a financial scam.
Maximiliano Batista is Behind Bars Awaiting Trial
Maxi was reportedly traveling when the news of her being wanted for arrest first came to light, just for it to expand to Interpol once she refused to return and instead went on the lam. However, the second authorities showed up at his daughter’s doorstep to raid the place – who was already on a call with her father – he said he’d surrender within hours if they left his kids out of it. So, on March 21, 2022, he returned to Buenos Aires from hiding out in Europe and was promptly taken into federal custody in connection with 173 financial fraud incidents involving 76 victims worth $120 million in Argentina alone.
“I don’t feel responsibility for what happened,” Max conceded in the film. “A company that is constantly attacked and hurt? How can it hold on? How can it be reliable? I never thought that Zoe was a scam. Not even now. I believe the system and the world played a cruel trick on us. And I believe that I’m paying for that trick being here.” Therefore, today, at the age of 44, Max remains in custody awaiting criminal trial, the exact date of which is yet to be set; though, if he is eventually convicted, he faces at least 20 years in prison.
Read More: Leonardo Cositorto: Where is Generation Zoe’s Founder Now?
