Filipino pastor Apollo Quiboloy, who claims to be “The Appointed Son of God” as well as “The Owner of the Universe” is on the latest US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) “wanted” list 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; bulk cash smuggling.”
Also listed in separate wanted posters are officials of the pastor’s “Kingdom of Jesus Christ The Name Above Every Name (KOJC),” a religious sect established in 1985.
In a statement released on Friday, February 4, Quiboloy said all the accusations against him are lies that are instigated by the “devil.”
“If we talk about persecution and accusations, Satan has hurled everything at me. But was the diamond shaken? Was the gold shaken? No!” he said.
He said he does not want to defend himself against the accusations because “If you’re gold, even if you are thrown into the mud, if you’re a diamond and you are thrown into the mud and sink there, will you turn into mud yourself?”
“No! You remain gold, you remain diamond. You don’t have to prove that you are gold, that you are diamond,” he said.
The FBI released the wanted list after the pastor was indicted by a US federal grand jury in California for allegedly forcing girls and young women to have sex with him to save them from “eternal damnation.”
“(I)t is alleged that females were recruited to work as personal assistants, or ‘pastorals,’ for Quiboloy and that (the) 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,’” read the FBI wanted poster.
“If you have any information concerning this person, please contact your local FBI office or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate,” it said, adding that Quiboloy is known by his “aliases” as “the appointed son of God,” “Sir,” “Pastor,” and “ACQ.”
In November, US prosecutors filed sex trafficking charges against Quiboloy who is a known friend of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
Prosecutors charged Quiboloy and his two staff members with participating in a conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion.
A 74-page indictment charge said three of the five female victims were minors when the alleged sex trafficking began.
The indictment stated that the victims prepared Quiboloy’s meals, cleaned his residences, gave him massages, and were required to have sex with the pastor as part of “night duty.”
The victims were reportedly ordered to have sex with Quiboloy on a schedule determined by the pastor and the church administrators.
“Defendant Quiboloy and other KOJC administrators told pastorals that performing ‘night duty’ was ‘God’s will’ and a privilege, as well as a necessary demonstration of the pastoral’s commitment to give her body to defendant Quiboloy as ‘The Appointed Son of God’,” the indictment read.
“Pastorals” are female recruits with ages between 12 and 25 who work as personal assistants of Quiboloy.
The US Justice department said cash raised for a bogus California-based charity was used to recruit victims who would be brought to the United States from the Philippines.
Some would be put to work raising more cash in order to help fund a lavish lifestyle for the 71-year-old pastor.
The indictment alleges the sex trafficking scheme ran for at least 16 years to 2018.
Victims who complied were rewarded with “good food, luxurious hotel rooms, trips to tourist spots, and yearly cash payments that were based on performance,” paid for with money solicited by church workers in the United States, according to the indictment.
The indictment builds on a previous indictment to include a total of nine defendants. Three were arrested in the US on Thursday.
Quiboloy, who maintained large residences in Hawaii, Las Vegas, and a swanky suburb of Los Angeles, is thought to be in Davao City along with two others named in the charge.
Quiboloy’s group, Kingdom of Jesus Christ, claims that it has at least four million followers in the Philippines and another two million overseas.
Philippines Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Saturday said the Department of Justice has not received an official extradition request for Quiboloy and his associates from American authorities.
“Extradition cannot be done motu proprio, especially if the subject is our own citizen. Any communication will be coursed through diplomatic channels,” he said.
