The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released a “Wanted” poster Friday for pastor Apollo Quiboloy, founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) Church and spiritual adviser to President Rodrigo Duterte, who was earlier indicted by US prosecutors for sex trafficking.
The FBI posted a photo of Quiboloy, as well as two other members of the KJC church, and said that the controversial pastor is charged with “Conspiracy to Engage in Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud and Coercion, and Sex Trafficking of Children; Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, and Coercion; Conspiracy; Bulk Cash Smuggling.”
“Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, the founder of a Philippines-based church, is wanted for his alleged participation in a labor trafficking scheme that brought church members to the United States, via fraudulently obtained visas, and forced the members to solicit donations for a bogus charity, donations that actually were used to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders,” the FBI wrote.
The FBI added that church members who proved to be successful at soliciting funds for the church “allegedly were forced to enter into sham marriages or obtain fraudulent student visas to continue soliciting in the United States year-round.”
The federal bureau further alleged that female members were recruited to work as personal assistants, or ‘pastorals,’ for Quiboloy, with tasks that required the victims to prepare his meals, clean his residences, give him massages, and have sex with him — an activity that pastorals called ‘night duty.'”
Quiboloy was earlier slapped with sex trafficking charges in a 74-page indictment prepared by US prosecutors, where he allegedly ran a sex-trafficking operation with victims as young as 12, threatening them with “eternal damnation” and physical abuse if they did not comply with his demands.
The pastor, whose recent public appearances count praying over vice presidential aspirant Sara Duterte at the Marcos-Duterte caravan nationwide kickoff, was indicted by a federal grand jury in a California district court. A federal arrest warrant was issued in November.
READ: The #MarcosDuwag fiasco has a sequel, after Bongbong Marcos declines another presidential forum
