The US Federal Bureau of Investigation includes Apollo Quiboloy, leader of the Davao-based religious sect Kingdom of Jesus Christ, on its most wanted list for a variety of offences in the United States, including child sex trafficking. - Photo: FBI
MANILA: Only the cases against Marissa Duenas have been dropped but the cases against her other co-accused, including Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy will continue, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Friday (Oct 11).
Duenas pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the US government by helping KJC conduct between 25 to 100 sham marriages to circumvent US Immigration Laws.
“Upon verifying with the US embassy, the US prosecutor and Quiboloy co-defendant Marissa Duenas have reached an agreement in which she pleads guilty to conspiracy to defraud the US government, and the prosecutor agrees to dismiss the other charges against her only,” Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic Clavano IV, DOJ spokesperson, said in a statement.
Clavano said the cases against all other defendants remain pending.
He said the trial is tentatively scheduled to begin on May 20, 2025.
Quiboloy is currently under the custody of the Philippine National Police (PNP) after two courts ordered his arrest for qualified human trafficking and sexual and child abuse.
In the US, he was indicted for conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion as well as cash smuggling.
The DOJ earlier said it may use the plea deal of Duenas in the trafficking case in the Philippines.
“But since it’s already in the media, of course, our prosecutors will use that, because they know that a co-respondent of Quiboloy has already admitted to this in another jurisdiction,” Clavano told reporters. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
