As fans, family and friends struggle to cope with the death of iconic singer Jenni Rivera last month in a plane crash, is one unlikely person close to her trying to take advantage of the superstar's untimely passing for financial gain?
According to La Prensa, Pedro Rivera made a plea for Rivera's fans to donate $2 million to him out of respect for what he claims was one of his sister's final, unrealized "dreams."
"Jenni and my sister Rosie wanted to acquire Primer Amor, a church located in Long Beach. I'm not sure how stuff is going to turn out and if God is going to bless us, but my son David told me Jenni has two million followers on twitter and, if each one can donate a dollar, it would help make my sister's [Jenni] dream come true," said the pastor, the aforementioned media outlet reported.
To further convince the singer's fans of the legitimacy of his story, Pedro tugged on heartstrings, praising his late sister's unshakeable virtues.
"Jenni was always giving money to the church, gave offerings, and gave chambers, which are used to record all messages that preach and teach the word of God," Rivera said.
Pedro initially intended to use Jenni's assets to buy the $2 million church, but the rest of the family disagreed with his plans, La Prensa reported. While the details of Jenni Rivera's charitable nature are certainly believable, as Guanabee notes, Pedro's invoking his sister's memory to capitalize on her fan base is largely unbased.
Shortly before her death, the singer wrote a letter declaring her younger sister Rosie should care for her five children and take control of her multi-million dollar estate, Jenni Enterprises, which has been valued as high as $25 million, in the event of her death.
According to Mexico's transportation secretary, Rivera and her crew were killed when the small private Learjet plummeted from 28,000 feet and crashed into a mountainous area 9,000 feet above sea level.The jet was flying them from the northern Mexican city of Monterrey to the central city of Toluca.
According to CNN, the cause of the crash is under investigation. The accident report will not be ready for nine months to a year, the secretary of communications and transportation said.
The DEA recently announced that it is currently investigating Starwood Management, the company that owns the luxury jet that crashed and killed Rivera and her crew. The agency seized two of its planes earlier this year as part of the ongoing probe, reported The Huffington Post.
"The DEA has subpoenaed all the company's records, including any correspondence it has had with a former Tijuana mayor who U.S. law enforcement officials have long suspected has ties to organized crime," the Post noted.
The man who runs the business, 50-year-old Christian Esquino "has a long and checkered legal past," but he told the Associated Press he's been dogged by the DEA since the 1980s after he sold a plane in Florida to a prominent drug trafficker who eventually used the craft as part of a huge smuggling operation.
"Known to fans as 'La Diva de la Banda' or The Diva of Banda Music, Rivera was well-established as a musical powerhouse with her Spanish-language performances of regional Mexican corridos, or ballads. For fans, the nickname captured her powerful voice and the personal strength many admired," said USA Today.
After dominating Latin charts for years, many saw Rivera as poised to take on the English-language market. Rivera sold 15 million records, according to Billboard, and recently won two Billboard Music Awards, including favorite Mexican music female artist.
The Banda Music singer was nominated for various Latin Grammy Awards in 2002, 2008 and 2011. In October, People en Español named her to its list of the 25 most powerful women.