Federal agents raided the church of “Appointed Son of God” Apollo Quiboloy and arrested three church leaders in Los Angeles for the human trafficking probe, Thursday (Manila time).
The FBI arrested three administrators of a Kingdom of Jesus Christ church Wednesday for immigration fraud charges. The church leaders are allegedly trafficking in its members from Asia as part of a six-year fundraising scam. They are also accused of arranging sham marriages to keep them in the U.S.
FBI agents arrested Guia Cabactulan, 59, Marissa Duenas, 41, and Amanda Estopare, 48 after they raided Kingdom of Jesus Christ, the Name Above Every Name (or KOJC) offices in Van Nuys, Glendale, and Los Angeles.
U.S. attorney’s office said one of the suspects confiscated passports of the victims of the scheme, and another handled finances.
Former KOJC workers who managed to escape from the church told the FBI that they had been sent to different parts of the U.S. to solicit long hours all year round. They also said the church would beat and psychologically abuse those who will not meet daily quotas, according to an affidavit filed in support of the charges. Some of the victims told the FBI they lived in cars at truck stops.
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FBI raids Los Angeles church of Quiboloy, church leaders arrested
The immigrants would eventually become “miracle workers” or full-time workers. The money they are soliciting is supposed to go to the nonprofit Children’s Joy Foundation USA. However, the complaint said most of their collection go to KOJC operations and the luxurious lifestyle of the self-proclaimed “owner of the universe” Apollo Quiboloy.
FBI said $20 million was sent back to the church in the Philippines from 2014 to the middle of 2019.
“Most of these funds appear to derive from street-level solicitation,” according to the affidavit by FBI Special Agent Anne Wetzel. “Little to no money solicited appears to benefit impoverished or in-need children.”
KOJC founder Apollo Quiboloy or any of its representatives has given any statement regarding the raid and the arrest of their church leaders.
In September 2019, a former follower of the megachurch, Pastor Quiboloy, threw new cash smuggling allegations against him and another church officer in Hawaii.