Photo for illustration purposes only
Three administrators of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy's Kingdom of Jesus Christ were arrested here on Wednesday (Thursday on Manila) on allegation of conspiracy to commit immigration fraud, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said.
The complaint alleges a "years-long scheme" to bring full-time workers to the US under "false pretenses," turning them into fund-raisers and marrying them with church members who are US citizens to keep them in the country, the US Department of Justice said in a statement.
The trio was accused of securing US visas for fellow church members and requiring them to solicit donations for a charity called Children's Joy Foundation USA, the FBI said.
The arrested church members were identified in the statement as Guia Cabactulan, 59, a "top official" of the church who had direct communications with its Philippines' leadership; Marissa Duenas, 41, who allegedly handled immigration documents and kept the victims' passports; and Amanda Estopare, 48, who handled "financial aspects" and fundraising.FBI arrested 3 administrators of The Kingdom of Jesus Christ Church on immigration fraud charges. Allegedly bringing in people to work as donation solicitors. They raided several of the Philippine church’s US locations including this compound in Van Nuys. Developing story. pic.twitter.com/zzvowZh54g— Steve Angeles (@StevieAngeles) January 29, 2020
"They are forcing these individuals, in some cases, to work all day, solicit funds, for what they are saying for impoverished children in the Philippines. In reality, we believe the money is going to fund the lavish lifestyles of the leaders of this scheme," said Laura Eimillier, a spokeswoman for the FBI.
FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller explains the raid and arrests at the Kingdom of Jesus compound in Van Nuys. Three people were charged with immigration fraud, but the justice department is also looking at this as a labor trafficking case. @ANCALERTS @ABSCBNNews @balitangamerica pic.twitter.com/I5j4Klngeh— Steve Angeles (@StevieAngeles) January 29, 2020
The recruits work "every single day, for little or no pay," Eimillier said. "If they don't raise enough money, we believe they are abused physically as well," she said.
"We are asking anyone who believe they might be a victim or may know something about a victim, we're asking those people to come forward," she said.
Here at the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Church where the FBI arrested 2 administrators and a 3rd one over immigration fraud charges. @ANCALERTS @ABSCBNNews @balitangamerica pic.twitter.com/durUqs4I0J— Steve Angeles (@StevieAngeles) January 29, 2020
Federal agents served search warrants on the Kingdom of Jesus Christ compound in Van Nuys, an office in Glendale and 3 other locations in the Los Angeles area. Two locations in Hawaii were also searched, according to the statement from the US Department of Justice.
"Agents fanned out across the United States to interview witnesses as part of a larger investigation into the organization," it said.
READ: FBI raids Quiboloy’s Church in Los Angeles in human trafficking investigation
In February 2008, Quiboloy was briefly detained at Honolulu airport for a day after federal agents found $350,000 from the private plane that he was on.
Found this article interesting? Share it with your friends! 👍🏼
This article first appeared on ABS-CBN News.
Enjoyed the article? We are a team of volunteers who want to provide relevant and factual information. We appreciate any amount of donation to keep the inspiring stories from our team coming! 🙏
No comments:
Post a Comment