Quiboloy's US Cohort to Plead Guilty in Fraud Cases

Volume 3, Issue No. 40

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail. com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .

 

Our latest as of Monday, April 4, 2022 

~ A Filipino paralegal alleged by US authorities as a cohort of Apollo Quiboloy, the self-proclaimed "appointed son of God", has agreed to plead guilty to fraud charges that could land her in prison for five years. The US Justice Department said Maria De Leon, 73, of Los Angeles, California, is one of nine defendants, including Quiboloy, charged in November 2021 in a 42-count superseding indictment that alleges a labor trafficking scheme to bring church members to the US, where they were forced to solicit donations for a bogus charity. 

 

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 ALLEGED COHORT OF QUIBOLOY, THE 'APPOINTED SON OF GOD'

Filipino Paralegal in US Admits Role in Fraud

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ 

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." - Matthew 7:15

TORONTO - One of nine alleged cohorts of Filipino televangelist Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, the self-declared "appointed son of God," has admitted her role in marriage and visa fraud to obtain legal residency in the United States for members of his Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name (KOJC). 

The US Justice Department said Maria De Leon, 73, a resident of Koreatown in Los Angeles, California, and the owner of Liberty Legal Document Services, agreed to plead guilty to participating in a scheme with administrators of the church. She also agreed to cooperate in the government's case, the department said.

For about eight years, De Leon, a paralegal, prepared and filed false documents that sought permanent residency and citizenship for members of Quiboloy's church who allegedly worked as fundraisers for a bogus charity operated by the church, a press statement furnished The Filipino Web Channel said during the weekend. 

As part of the plea agreement, De Leon will formally enter her guilty plea to the conspiracy count during a court hearing soon. She faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2022/02/fbi-issues-arrest-warrant-for-appointed.html).

“At the time [De Leon] completed the immigration paperwork for certain KOJC members, [she] knew that the immigration paperwork was based upon false representations of the bona fides of the underlying marriages” made by church officials," according to the plea agreement.

In Manila, meanwhile, Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, a legal counsel to Quiboloy, clarified in published reports that De Leon is an independent contractor who "is not a member of KOJC x x x and neither is she connected nor affiliated in any way with the KOJC nor with Pastor Quiboloy officially or personally".

De Leon is one of six defendants previously arrested in this case, the department said. The remaining five defendants who have appeared in federal court in Los Angeles are currently scheduled to be tried on March 21, 2023. 

Three of the defendants, including Quiboloy, are fugitives believed to be in the Philippines. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has created "Wanted by the FBI" posters showing their names, faces, and detailed background information. (Video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9o7oJDmSHI&t=13s).

Though considered a runaway from justice in the US, Quiboloy is highly visible online and on television. He frequently appears on newscasts in SMNI or Sonshine Media Network International, the Makati City-based network he owns, expressing his support for certain candidates in the general elections on May 9. 

Quiboloy was indicted by a federal grand jury in Santa Ana, California on charges ranging from sex trafficking of children, marriage fraud, money laundering, visa fraud, bulk cash smuggling, conspiracy, and sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion. On November 10, 2021, a federal warrant was issued for his arrest.

The flamboyant televangelist is reportedly one of the richest pastors in the country with a net worth estimated at between 50 to 100 million pesos. Speculations in Philippine media said Quiboloy might be extradited to the U.S. to face his accusers.

With regard to De Leon, the department said she admitted to submitting fraudulent “Petitions for Alien Relative” and related paperwork on behalf of KOJC members knowing or believing that the marriages were arranged for purposes of securing favorable immigration status for a spouse.

She is one of nine defendants charged in November 2021 in a 42-count superseding indictment that alleges a labor trafficking scheme that used fraudulently obtained visas to bring KOJC members to the US, where they were forced to solicit donations for a bogus charity – the Children’s Joy Foundation (CJF) based in Glendale, California. 

The indictment alleges that the donations were used to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders.

Members who proved successful at soliciting for the KOJC were forced to enter into sham marriages or obtain fraudulent student visas to acquire legal status in the US so they could continue soliciting donations, the indictment alleges. 

Many of the workers were moved around the US to solicit donations as CJF “volunteers,” who were also called Full Time Miracle Workers, according to the indictment, which alleges these “workers fundraised for KOJC nearly every day, year-round, working very long hours, and often sleeping in cars overnight.” (Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved).