Quiboloy's camp questions order freezing his bank accounts

The camp of Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy has questioned the legal basis of the Court of Appeal's (CA) order freezing his bank accounts and assets.

CA issued an order freezing several bank accounts and properties of Quiboloy after the appellate court found reasonable ground to believe that these are "linked to unlawful activities and predicate crimes" based on the petition submitted by the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

The bank accounts of KOJC and the Swara Sug Media Corporation, which operates the Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), were also ordered frozen.

The freeze order is effective for 20 days.

Atty. Israelito Torreon, one of the lawyers of KOJC, said the Department of Justice (DOJ) should review the order.

"Noong nag-interview kasi yung DOJ spokesman na yung basis daw nila is yung nandoon sa United States of America, kailangan talaga na suriin ito ng masyado. Bakit po? Mayron naman tayong territoriality principle insofar as crimes are concerned. Those committed in United States of America, as a general rule, should be tried in America," Torreon said.

Quiboloy's camp wanted to know the pieces of evidence stated in the petition, which proved that Quiboloy used the frozen bank accounts in the alleged unlawful activities.

"What are evidences that they can show to link, to cause the reasonable relation between the so-called unlawful activity with the particular properties that are owned by the kingdom," Torreon added.

Quiboloy's camp said the money and properties of KOJC came from its members.

They also believe that the order to arrest the pastor was motivated by politics, especially that Quiboloy is close to the Duterte family.

"We have reasonable grounds to believe that all of this is political. That's our belief. We may be mistaken but that is our belief that all of this is political. The closeness of Pastor Quiboloy and our beloved former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte," Torreon said.

Quiboloy's camp is still waiting for the official copy of the freeze order, as of this writing.

The legal counsel of SMNI earlier said they are set to file a motion to lift the order or a temporary restraining order (TRO) before the Supreme Court (SC). — GMA Regional TV