MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed that it has received the formal request to extradite church leader Apollo Quiboloy, who is facing cases on conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, and sex trafficking of children; sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion; conspiracy; and bulk cash smuggling, among others.
In a statement on Thursday, the DFA said that the request from the United States Government was already endorsed to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirms it has received the United States Government's request for the extradition of Apollo Quiboloy,” the DFA said.
“The DFA has endorsed the request to the Department of Justice,” the statement read.
In a text message to DZRH, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez earlier stated that the formal request was sent to the DOJ.
“The US formal request has been transmitted to the Department of Justice,” Ambassador Romualdez said.
Quiboloy, who is the founder of the Davao-based church Kingdom of Jesus Christ, is facing multiple cases in the United States and is included in the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Most Wanted List.
“Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, the founder of a Philippines-based church, is wanted for his alleged participation in a labor trafficking scheme that brought church members to the United States, via fraudulently obtained visas, and forced the members to solicit donations for a bogus charity, donations that actually were used to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders,” according to the FBI Most Wanted official website.
“Members who proved successful at soliciting for the church allegedly were forced to enter into sham marriages or obtain fraudulent student visas to continue soliciting in the United States year-round,” the website added.
Quiboloy is also accused of recruiting females to work as his personal assistants, or “pastorals”, tasked to prepare his meals, clean his residences, give him massages and were required to have sex with him in what they called “night duty,” the FBI website said.
According to the FBI Most Wanted website, Quiboloy was indicted by a federal grand jury in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Santa Ana, California, for conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion and sex trafficking of children; sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; conspiracy; and bulk cash smuggling, and on November 10, 2021, a federal warrant was issued for his arrest.
Quiboloy was arrested inside the compound of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ in Davao City in September 2024 and is detained at the Pasig City Jail, while facing non-bailable qualified human trafficking and sexual abuse charges in the Philippines.
