3 Quiboloy church officials charged with labor trafficking

A California federal grand jury charged three officials of a church founded by Apollo Quiboloy with overseeing a labor trafficking scheme in which church members were allegedly forced into work soliciting donations.

According to a statement from the United States Attorney's Office-Central District of California, the one-count indictment returned on Wednesday alleged that Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) members Guia Cabacutlan, Marissa Duenas, and Amanda Estopare conspired to commit a series of offenses including trafficking with respect to forced labor, document servitude, immigration fraud, and marriage fraud.

According to the indictment, the suspects allegedly urged church members to come to the US by claiming that they would be performing at musical events.

But once in the US, victims would be forced to surrender their passports and they would instead be required to work full-time soliciting donations for the Children’s Joy Foundation USA (CJF).

However, US attorneys claimed that the money raised was used to finance KOJC operations and the lavish lifestyles of church leaders, and that victims' passports were taken to "prevent and restrict [...] KOJC workers’ liberty to move and travel in order to maintain the labor and services of KOJC workers."

"Other KOJC workers were unaware of the actual purpose until they were forced [...] to solicit on the streets nearly every day, year-round, working very long hours, and often sleeping in cars overnight," the indictment alleged.

The suspects also supposedly arranged sham marriages with US KOJC workers to keep productive church members in the country.

Immigration records in the complaint detailed 82 marriages of KOJC and church members over the past two decades.

During a search of the KOJC compound, US authorities claimed to have retrieved 72 Filipino passports, seven United States passports, and one Ukrainian passport, as well as four male wedding rings and three female weddings, rings in an office at the compound.

The suspects were arrested last January 29, and were in federal custody. They were scheduled to be arraigned on February 20 in the United States District Court in Santa Ana.

Quiboloy's lawyer had said earlier that service with the church was voluntary, and that no one was forced to participate in any of their activities. — Joahna Lei Casilao/DVM, GMA News