3 leaders of Quiboloy’s church indicted for immigration fraud, human trafficking

CALIFORNIA, USA — A federal grand jury has charged three top officials of a Philippines-based church in Los Angeles for overseeing a scheme that forced followers into becoming fundraisers for a bogus charity.
They are 59-year-old Guia Cabactulan, the top administrator of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ church in the US; 41-year-old Marissa Duenas who managed processing of immigration documents and acted as the head of human resources; and 48-yeard-old Amanda Estopare who set quota for fundraisers and the one who funneled money to the church leader Apollo Quiboloy in the Philippines.
The three accused were arrested by Federal agents in separate raids last month.
They were charged on Thursday (February 13) for conspiring to commit forced labor or human trafficking, document servitude, and immigration and marriage frauds, all for a scheme of soliciting funds for a bogus group Childrens’ Joy Foundation.
“A lot of the money doesn’t go to the children, only a very very small percentage goes and even when the money does go to the children it’s a whole separate goal,” a former member of the church who coordinated with UNTV News but requested anonymity said.
“It is true with everything that’s being tossed around now in the media, yes. They do have quotas,” he added.
Based on Federal investigation, the church has collected US $20 million from 2014 to 2019, the majority of which goes to fund Quiboloy’s extravagant lifestyle.
Among the properties mentioned in the FBI report include a Bentley, a bullet-proof Escalade, Armani Suit and expensive estates including a mansion in Calabasas, California.
Meanwhile, a former church worker confessed that members are not only abused because of not hitting a quota but also for going beyond Quiboloy’s rules.
“Depending on that the severity of your case then determines how many paddles you get,” the former church worker said.
“I’ve seen the hundred, it’s not pretty because you’re laying down and then 100 paddles would hit you strongly like a full swing. Then after it would take about like to three weeks for your butt to heal because it’s purple,” he added.
Quiboloy denied the allegations arguing that those were just the works of the people who wanted to destroy the “church”.
But the FBI said the arrest was a result of a decade-long investigation on the group’s illegal activities in Los Angeles and Hawaii as well as in other states in the US. – MNP (with inputs from Sonny Cos)