An influential evangelist preacher from the Philippines accused of sex trafficking and
sexual abuse has been arrested, authorities said on Sunday.
Apollo Quiboloy, self-proclaimed “owner of the universe” and “appointed son of god”, is wanted on charges of child and sexual abuse and related allegations of human trafficking. He has denied wrongdoing.
“Apollo Quiboloy has been caught,” Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said on his Facebook page, without specifying how or where he had been.
The pastor is also on the FBI’s “most wanted” list in the United States on separate charges of sex trafficking and bulk cash smuggling, over which he has also denied wrongdoing.
Over 2,000 police were deployed since last month to search a sprawling compound in the southern city of Davao owned by Quiboloy’s church, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), on
suspicion that he was hiding there in a bunker.
Philippine police spokesperson Jean Fajardo confirmed to reporters on Sunday Quiboloy was captured inside the compound, but did not provide further details.
WATCH: Davao Police Regional Director Nicolas Torre and troops pull out of KOJC compound
“Tapos na ang trabaho,” Davao Police Regional Director Nicolas Torre says as troops pull out of Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) compound after Pastor Apollo Quiboloy’s alleged surrender… pic.twitter.com/IY2WLJUq50
— Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) September 8, 2024
Quiboloy and four other co-accused were transported by military plane to the capital region on Sunday night after surrendering to authorities, Fajardo said. The five were
detained at a detention facility inside the national police headquarters.
“At around 1:30 p.m (0530 GMT), a negotiation took place for their surrender because we gave them a 24-hour ultimatum,” Fajardo told reporters.
Quiboloy is followed by millions of people in the Philippines, where church leaders hold heavy sway in politics. He is a longtime friend of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
“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,” says the FBI poster released in November November 2021. “Members who proved successful at soliciting 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,” it says.
“Furthermore, it is alleged that females were recruited to work as personal assistants, or “pastorals,” for Quiboloy and that victims prepared his meals, cleaned his residences, gave him massages and were required to have sex with Quiboloy in what the pastorals called “night duty.”
Quiboloy was indicted by a federal grand jury in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Santa Ana, California, for conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion and sex trafficking of children; sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; conspiracy; and bulk cash smuggling, and on November 10, 2021, a federal warrant was issued for his arrest, the FBI said.
(REUTERS)
