Man speaks out against 2 ministry leaders accused of money laundering scheme in Michigan
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A federal grand jury has indicted two people with ties to Taylor, Michigan, for an alleged forced labor and money laundering scheme through Kingdom of God Global Church, formerly known as Joshua Media Ministries International, as part of a nationwide takedown by the FBI.
Over a decade ago, David Taylor, a self-proclaimed apostle, opened his first call center in Taylor, where he allegedly used unpaid labor to raise millions of dollars in donations to fund a luxurious lifestyle, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Kyle Taylor, who claims to know some of the victims, describes the church as more of an alleged cult than any type of church.
“A lot of manipulation, a lot of control, you know. It was all centered around David, where everything was basically what he said; that’s the way that it went. A lot of hush-hush,” said Kyle Taylor, who is not related to David Taylor.
The Kingdom of God Global Church has locations in Michigan, Missouri, Florida, and Texas, all of which were raided by the FBI on Wednesday. The FBI separately confirmed its staff was involved in law enforcement activities in Taylor, Michigan.
cuc, as well as his executive director, Michelle Brannon, were arrested in North Carolina and Florida, respectively, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Kyle Taylor says he protested the church back in 2019 when he met former members who told him about the alleged conditions inside.
“If you tried to go inside and know about anything, they would do their best to push you out of here,” he said. “Some of the individuals that their parents would go here they would try to get their parents, they were escorted out. And so I think it was just fear, it was a fear-based thing that nobody wanted to talk about it but they knew something was wrong, and so that’s probably why it took so long.”
A 23-page indictment issued Wednesday by a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan outlines the allegations against David Taylor and Michelle Brannon, including recruiting people to work at the call center unpaid.
Content retrieved from: https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/what-we-know-about-ministry-leaders-alleged-money-laundering/.
