Quiboloy group shocked by FBI probe of human trafficking

Apollo Quiboloy

A spokesperson for the Davao City-based televangelist Apollo Quiboloy on Tuesday said he was shocked to learn that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was investigating the pastor’s religious group for possible human trafficking in Hawaii.

Lawyer Israelito Torreon was reacting to a report on Thursday by Hawaii News Now that an FBI agent who was investigating alleged aggressive fundraising by the Honolulu chapter of Quiboloy’s religious group — the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) — was also looking into the trafficking angle.

Torreon said the report was “not only surprising but shocking.”

“I just came from Hawaii and I was not told the FBI was investigating the KJC for human trafficking,” Torreon told the Inquirer by phone.

Focus on Salinas

“The Kingdom of Jesus Christ is not a human trafficking organization. It does not engage and is not guilty of such,” he said, adding that the group’s American lawyers would clarify the matter with the FBI.

“As a religious organization, members are accepted based on their free will. There is no compulsion,” he said.

The Hawaii News Now report said the FBI investigation was focused on Felina Salinas, the business manager of the local chapter of Quiboloy’s group in Honolulu.

Salinas, a US citizen, was arrested in February for allegedly trying to smuggle $350,000 out of Hawaii on the same private jet that was to have flown Quiboloy and several other Filipinos back to the Philippines.

Officers inspecting the plane found US$335,000 and A$9,000 hidden in socks in her carry-on bag, according to US prosecutors. US law requires American travelers to declare currency over $10,000. She declared only $40,000.

Quiboloy, a friend of President Rodrigo Duterte who backed his election campaign, had to take a commercial flight back to the Philippines. US authorities released his plane later in the month.

Salinas was accused of bulk cash smuggling, which carries a five-year prison term and forfeiture of the cash and property. She was released on a $25,000 bond.

After Salinas’ arrest, an agent from the FBI’s Los Angeles office pursued the trafficking angle, Hawaii News Now reported, citing unidentified sources.

The report said Salinas was also arrested in 2015 for allegedly assaulting a fellow sectarian, who claimed she was forced to raise money, which, experts said, raised the human trafficking angle. Salinas’ lawyer said the allegations had no merit.

“The next morning when she (Salinas) appeared in front of the judge, the state dismissed the charges as though they never should have been filed in the first place,” said lawyer Michael Green.

Kristina Angeles

Hawaii News Now said it had obtained documents on Salinas’ 2015 arrest that said the alleged victim and former sect member, Kristina Angeles, came to Hawaii in October 2014 on a religious worker visa.

Just days after she arrived, Angeles said she was put to work to help raise funds for the group by selling “manapua and Krispy Kreme” donuts, “rain or shine.”

Some people who travel to the United States on a religious worker’s visa have been trapped in similar situations before, the report said.

Experts said Angeles’ allegations raised questions whether human trafficking was involved.

“It did indicate some of the classic signs of human trafficking. And people who have come under religious worker visas before have sometimes been connected with human trafficking,” said Hawaii attorney Clare Hanusz.

Consumers have accused the religious group’s charity, Children’s Joy Foundation, of aggressive fundraising and even misrepresentation, the report said.

Statement to police

In her statement to the police, Angeles said members were punished if they didn’t sell enough.

“We’ve been slapped or yelled at. The last time, I … received punches over my arms and legs,” she said.

When Angeles ran away in 2015, the group initially reported her missing. Then a 15-year-old female member later filed charges of sexual assault against her that her lawyer called retaliation, the report said.

Hanusz said traffickers often retaliate against victims by filing questionable criminal charges.

“This is often done in trafficking. They use threats of deportation and calling law enforcement and making things up,” she said. —With a report from Allan Nawal