Brazilian Indian Chief Paolino Payakin, who received the United Nations Environmental Award for his efforts on behalf of the environment, disappeared during the Rio Earth Summit because the police were seeking him for raping and trying to murder his teenage housekeeper. According to Brazilian police, Payakin's wife held the 18-year old girl down while he raped her and bit off her nipple. The chief then tried to strangle the girl, but she was saved by a servant who heard her cries for help.

A German magazine also revealed that Payakin had made millions from secretly exploiting the rain forests by selling pelts and skins of rare animals, mahogany, and even gold. The magazine, however, called him "an innocent child of nature corrupted by the bad morals of capitalism."

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