Federal authorities early Wednesday arrested top administrators of a Philippines-based church during a raid of the church’s Van Nuys compound on suspicion of an immigration fraud scheme where church officials allegedly coerced some members into sham marriages to keep them in the United States to raise money for the church’s expensive projects and to fund the “lavish lifestyle” of its leader.

Guia Cabactulan, 59, the top official in the United States for the church, Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name; and Marissa Duenas, 41, another church official, were arrested around 6 a.m. when FBI agents raided the Van Nuys compound, which includes a church, a residential building and an office space, an office in Glendale, and three other locations in the Los Angeles area, said the U.S. Justice Department.

A third church official, Amanda Estopare, 48 was missing from the Van Nuys compound during the raid, but was arrested at a location near Virginia Beach, Va., said Thom Mrozek, a U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman.

A criminal complaint filed Monday alleged that the trio arrested Wednesday had hosted the immigration and trafficking scheme.

Cabactulan, a legal U.S. resident and Philippines national, maintained communication between the U.S. workers and KOJC leadership in the Philippines, the complaint alleged. Duenas, a U.S. citizen, was the church’s legal representative and often handled the filing of fraudulent immigration paperwork to obtain visas and passports for the church’s workers. Federal authorities said Estopare, also a U.S. citizen, handled the financial aspects of the church and enforced fundraising quotas. Some of the former workers spoke of physical and emotional abuse if they failed to meet daily and monthly quotas, the complaint said.

It was not immediately clear whether the suspects had defense attorneys. The trio was scheduled to appear in federal court in Santa Ana on Thursday afternoon.

A phone number listed for the church’s Van Nuys compound did not have a working voicemail system.

The KOJC workers were instructed to go to malls, college campuses, restaurants, and department stores throughout the U.S. to solicit donations for a church non-profit called the Children’s Joy Foundation USA, the government said. They told potential donors their money would benefit impoverished children living in the Philippines. However, federal authorities claim the foundation was used a front. The money, authorities said, was not used for humanitarian projects, but was instead funneled for the church’s expensive projects.

Bank records showed from 2014 to mid-2019, KOJC received approximately $20 million in cash from the workers’ fundraising efforts. An internal KJOC spreadsheet turned over to investigators showed the money would be used to pay for the construction of “Kingdome” stadium in the Philippines, the church’s multimedia programs, travel expenses for church leaders to attend conferences, and a special fund that would be sent to the church’s leader, televangelist Apollo Quiboloy as a gift for his birthday.

The KOJC workers spent long hours soliciting money for the church, receiving little to no pay, the complaint said. Several former workers who spoke to federal investigators spoke of squalid living conditions at some of the church’s compounds throughout the country and would often sleep in parked cars during fundraising campaigns.

Workers who raised the most funds, the complaint said, were forced to marry KOJC church members who were U.S. citizens as a way to keep them in the country so they could continue their money-soliciting efforts, the government alleged. Investigators found there were 82 marriages involving KOJC administrators and workers from March 1999 to December 2019.

Larger FBI Investigation

Wednesday’s arrests were a part of a larger ongoing FBI investigation into the KOJC church and was the latest criminal case involving the church’s leaders.

In Hawaii, one of the church’s financial administrators faces federal charges for allegedly attempting to smuggle $350,000 of undeclared currency on a flight with Quiboloy, from Hawaii to the Philippines. The trial in that case was scheduled to begin next week. FBI agents also raided two other KOJC facilities in Hawaii on Wednesday morning.

“This is an ongoing investigation into potential criminal conduct beyond the immigration fraud alleged in the complaint,” Mrozek said, adding that he was unable to comment on the scope or nature of any other charges the FBI may be investigating.

KOJC claims on its website to have a membership of six million people in congregations in 2,000 cities across the globe.

Quiboloy founded KOJC in 1985 and is referred by its members as “The Appointed Son of God.” In 1989, Quiboloy also founded a broadcasting wing for his church, Sonshine Media Network International, of which he is the chariman. He used the network to establish himself as a renowned televangelist to a mostly Filipino audience. Quiboloy also founded a sports management company in 2014, Sonshine Sports Management, which organizes professional and amateur sporting events in the Philippines.