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FBI raids Philippines-based church in Los Angeles in sham-marriage immigration bust Followers were allegedly tricked into becoming fundraisers, sent across US to solicit donations and beaten if they did not make daily quotas Victims had passports confiscated and were kept in US via sham marriagesAssociated Press30 Jan, 2020An area around the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Church in Los Angeles is closed off with crime scene tape on Wednesday. Photo: APAn area around the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Church in Los Angeles is closed off with crime scene tape on Wednesday. Photo: APAn area around the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Church in Los Angeles is closed off with crime scene tape on Wednesday. Photo: APUS federal agents raided a Philippines-based church in Los Angeles Wednesday in a human-trafficking investigation that led to arrests of three 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 US.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 and another who handled finances, the US attorney’s office said.Workers who managed to escape from the church told the FBI that they had been sent across the US to work long hours soliciting donations year-round for the church’s charity and were beaten and psychologically abused if they didn’t make daily quotas, according to an affidavit filed in support of the charges. Some described having to live in cars at truck stops.Read more at: https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3048151/fbi-raids-philippines-based-church-los-angeles-sham
