Los Angeles court reschedules hearing for Quiboloy case to 2025

NEW YORK—The Los Angeles, California court has once again rescheduled the hearing for the case involving Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) leader Apollo Quiboloy, court documents showed.

Scheduling conflicts of KOJC lawyers with their other cases in Los Angeles were attached as an exhibit in the court order.

The District Court in the Central District of California has moved the trial date from November 5, 2024, to May 20, 2025, with the pre-trial conference now set for April 7, 2025. The court granted the request from the lawyers of Quiboloy and his co-accused to ensure that justice is served.

The status conference hearing will continue from October 21, 2024, to April 7, 2025. Both parties must file motions in limine by March 10, 2025, oppositions by March 24, 2025, and replies by March 31, 2025.

Limine is a pretrial motion made by attorneys to request that certain evidence be deemed inadmissible and excluded from trial to prevent prejudicial or irrelevant information from being presented to the jury.

Aside from Quiboloy, the co-accused are Guia Cabactulan, Marissa Duanes, Bettina Roces, Felina Salinas, and Amanda Estopare, all KOJC officials in California.

They face charges including conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion; sex trafficking of children; marriage fraud; fraud and misuse of visas; bulk cash smuggling; promotional money laundering; concealment money laundering; and international promotional money laundering.

Authorities are still searching for Quiboloy, Teresita Dandan, and Helen Panilag, who are co-accused in multiple cases in the United States.

To recall, the Los Angeles court also suspended the sentencing of Maria De Leon, a paralegal and travel agent, who had reached a settlement with the District Attorney's Office in exchange for a reduced sentence. According to the US Department of Justice, De Leon admitted to participating, for about eight years, in the alleged conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and visa fraud with supposed leaders of the KOJC.

Quiboloy's camp, however, has denied any connection with De Leon, adding that she is not a member of KOJC.

The court has scheduled De Leon's sentencing for January 27, 2025, court documents also showed. — VDV, GMA Integrated News