FBI renews call for tips on Quiboloy, others in human trafficking case  

NEW YORK – The FBI has reposted a “Most Wanted” notice on social media asking the public to help track down televangelist Apollo Quiboloy and two of his alleged church lieutenants, who are facing human trafficking charges in the United States.

In a Facebook post this week, FBI Dallas highlighted four people on the bureau’s “Most Wanted” list for human trafficking, which included Quiboloy, Teresita Tolibas Dandan and Helen Panilag. They asked anyone with information to call 1-800-CALL-FBI, contact the nearest US embassy or consulate, or submit a tip online.

Extradition request

The renewed call for information on Quiboloy comes as the Philippine government awaits a formal request from the US to extradite Quiboloy, who was arrested in Davao in August 2024 and is currently detained at the Pasig City Jail.

He appeared at the Pasig Regional Trial Court on Thursday for the continuation of hearings in his human trafficking case.

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said in September last year that a formal request to extradite Quiboloy was “forthcoming.”

The detained Kingdom of Jesus Christ leader was indicted in California in 2021 for sex trafficking of minors, fraud and bulk cash smuggling.

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“There is (an extradition) request but the formal one, which will set the ball rolling, basically, is the formal note verbale, which the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) is waiting for,” Romualdez told reporters.

He said the decision on whether Quiboloy could be extradited despite his pending cases in the Philippines would come from the Philippine Department of Justice.

Fugitives

The FBI post links to a page, where Quiboloy, Dandan and Panilag are profiled as fugitives accused in a long-running human trafficking scheme.

Image from FBI

In February 2022, the FBI had issued “wanted” posters for Quiboloy, circulating his case on the bureau’s website and social platforms after his 2021 federal indictment in California.  

The FBI’s wanted poster for Quiboloy has remained online since then, listing charges including conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, sex trafficking of children, sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, conspiracy and bulk cash smuggling.

Quiboloy is accused of leading a labor and sex trafficking scheme in which members of his Kingdom of Jesus Christ church were brought to the US using fraudulently obtained visas and forced to solicit donations for a bogus charity that allegedly financed church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders.  

Women and girls recruited as “pastorals” were allegedly required to prepare his meals, clean his residences, give him massages and submit to coerced sex in a ritual referred to as “night duty.”

Co-defendants named in the US case include Dandan, who allegedly helped recruit female pastorals, and Panilag, who is accused of overseeing financial data from church operations worldwide.  

Federal court records show that a grand jury in the Central District of California returned indictments in November 2021, and warrants for their arrests were issued soon after. 

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