Quiboloy’s church to exhaust legal remedies vs trafficking raps

MANILA, Philippines — The Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJS), founded by Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, belied yesterday the allegations hurled against the church as it vowed to exhaust all legal remedies to shed light on the human trafficking and immigration fraud charges filed against its three administrators in Los Angeles, California.  

KJS lawyer Michael Jay Green said they have the evidence to prove that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) witnesses fabricated their statements against church officials Guia Cabactulan, Marissa Duenas and Amanda Estopare. 

“(We) are in possession of evidence that witnesses to the human trafficking and immigration fraud charges against three Kingdom of Jesus Christ administrators in Los Angeles were lying about many things to the FBI, immigration and many other agencies to support their claims,” Green said. 

He added that the witnesses are former members “who left the fold” and are now tainting the image of the church by claiming that Filipinos are recruited to work in the American music industry but are instead forced to work as slaves by soliciting money in the US. 

The lawyer dismissed the claim as nothing but words to discount the work of Quiboloy, who has established the religion for 35 years in supporting communities and sending children to school. KJS, he added, has millions of members around the world. 

“These dissident workers knew in the beginning the goal was to help people around the world and they signed up for that voluntarily. So now when they got to the US, what they are saying is it was all phony,” Green said. ?He also said that one of the witnesses of the FBI is a Nepalese who previously converted to KJS, where he had a chance to work for the church’s charity programs in Nepal and Brazil, but left. This person is allegedly helping the FBI in exchange for their supposed extended stay in the US. 

Aside from fabricating lies, Green claimed that the former members are discrediting the Children’s Joy Foundation, a non-profit organization of the KJS that has received several recognitions in the Philippines. 

“I am troubled that people only have one side of the story. Having worked with the church since 2018, I have seen all the angles and my team and I are committed to get the real story out and let the people who have been unfair know the truth,” he said. 

Green is the head of the three-man legal team of the KJS along with experts from the famed San Francisco firm Farella Braun + Martel.  

The KJS recently made the headlines after three of its administrators in Los Angeles were charged for trafficking with respect to forced labor, document servitude, immigration fraud and marriage fraud.