Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, founding leader of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC), said there is a “grand conspiracy” to bring him down from his “meteoric rise” and the raid on his church in Los Angeles was part of it.
Quiboloy’s legal counsel Atty. Israelito Torreon maintained that the US-based KJC leaders are “innocent” and just exercising their “religious rights.”
“The filing of the criminal complaint against KOJC’s three administrators in the United States is part of the ‘grand conspiracy of lies’ concocted by men/ women who were once part of KJC but struck an alliance with forces jealous of the meteoric rise of Pastor ACQ and KJC,” Torreon said reading Quiboloy’s statement during a live streaming from Davao City.
KJC administrators who were arrested — Guia Cabactulan, 59, Marissa Duenas, 41, and Amanda Estopare, 48, — are facing immigration fraud charges and human trafficking. US Federal Bureau of Investigation also raided the KJC church and offices in Los Angeles.
RELATED STORY: FBI arrests 3 Quiboloy church leaders
Quiboloy’s lawyer said the pastor was “very saddened” upon learning this recent raid since the complainants “are very close to him” and that he was “ready to forgive these persons if they decide to go back to the Kingdom” until these charges were filed in the US.
One of the 12 complainants is a former lawyer of KJC, and also “very close” to Torreon himself.
“The witnesses who volunteered information to the FBI committed various misdemeanors against KJC, they have chosen to break ranks and invent cases against Pastor ACQ and KJC as a whole,” Torreon added.
The grumbling among the breakaway members started, he said, when Quiboloy ordered an audit on the financial standing of the KJC in the US. In fact, one of the members have already warned them in September 2019 that something “big” would happen.
KJC headquarters in Davao City is are now coordinating with the legal team of their US congregation counterparts to prove in court that the allegations are false. They will file bail on behalf of the three KJC administrators if the courts would allow it.
“We will show to the world that Pastor Quiboloy is innocent against these insinuations. Pastor Apollo sends his message to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ not to be saddened because we are to prove him innocent,” he added.
Torreon said part of the “grand conspiracy” was also the rape charges filed against Quiboloy.
A former member of Quiboloy’s religious group accused the pastor and five others of raping her in 2014 when she was just 17 years old. Quiboloy denied the accusations.
READ MORE: Quiboloy denies rape, human trafficking accussations
