Posted on 01/29/2020 2:36:31 PM PST by yesthatjallen
Federal agents raided a Philippines-based church in Los Angeles early Wednesday in a human trafficking investigation that led to arrests of two church leaders in what prosecutors said was a decades-long scheme to trick followers into becoming fundraisers and arrange sham marriages to keep them in the U.S.
The local leader of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ church was arrested on immigration fraud charges in the early morning bust along with a worker who confiscated passports of the victims of the scheme, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Fundraisers who managed to escape from the church told the FBI that they had been sent across the U.S. to solicit donations for the church’s charity, The Children’s Joy Foundation, and were beaten if they didn’t make daily quotas, according to affidavit filed in support of the charges. Some described having to live in cars at truck stops.
An FBI agent investigating the case documented 82 sham marriages over a 20-year period and tracked $20 million raised between 2014 and the middle of last year that was sent back to the church in the Philippines.
“Most of these funds appear to derive from street-level solicitation,” according to the affidavit by FBI Special Agent Anne Wetzel. “Little to no money solicited appears to benefit impoverished or in-need children.”
SNIP
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
They pretend to be churches.
[ Federal agents raided a Philippines-based church in Los Angeles early Wednesday in a human trafficking investigation that led to arrests of two church leaders in what prosecutors said was a decades-long scheme to trick followers into becoming fundraisers and arrange sham marriages to keep them in the U.S. ]
Sounds like a liberal racket.
I like it when ICE raids the places that employ illegal invaders who have worked with companies that deny jobs to legal U.S. citizens. Put them all in prison.
[ Fundraisers who managed to escape from the church told the FBI that they had been sent across the U.S. to solicit donations for the church’s charity, The Children’s Joy Foundation, and were beaten if they didn’t make daily quotas, according to affidavit filed in support of the charges. Some described having to live in cars at truck stops.
An FBI agent investigating the case documented 82 sham marriages over a 20-year period and tracked $20 million raised between 2014 and the middle of last year that was sent back to the church in the Philippines.
“Most of these funds appear to derive from street-level solicitation,” according to the affidavit by FBI Special Agent Anne Wetzel. “Little to no money solicited appears to benefit impoverished or in-need children.” ]
Good work, FBI. This what we like to see you guys do; bust the various pyramid schemes that foster the illegal invasion of America.
“Churches in sanctuary cities provide cover for illegal activities.”
And not just ethnic-based churches, but also English-speaking churches, particularly Catholic ones, although they’re also infiltrating Baptist churches now.
Good.
Now add the mosques to the list as well.
Hmmm... Isn't that the accepted paradigm for all government tax-supported welfare programs...
How many mosques, scientology centers, and/or LDS temples have they monitored and/or busted?
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