Self-proclaimed ‘apostle’ who claims to be Jesus’ best friend arrested in forced labor scheme

Two professed religious leaders, including one who referred to himself as an “apostle” and claimed to be Jesus’ best friend, were arrested Wednesday as part of a nationwide takedown related to forced labor at call centers where workers were coerced into soliciting millions of dollars in donations, the Justice Department said.

David Taylor, 53, and Michelle Brannon, 56, were arrested in North Carolina and Florida, respectively. Both were leaders of the Kingdom of God Global Church (KOGGC), formerly Joshua Media Ministries International (JMMI), federal prosecutors said.

Both are charged with conspiracy to commit forced labor, forced labor, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Kingdom of God church and an attorney representing both defendants. 

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“Forced labor and exploitation have no place in America,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “These indictments expose years of abuse carried out under the guise of faith, and this week the FBI will move decisively with our partners to bring justice to the victims and accountability to the perpetrators.”

“Under President Trump’s leadership, the FBI will not hesitate to act against those who prey on vulnerable people for power and profit,” Patel added.

Search warrants were executed in Taylor, Michigan; Chesterfield, Missouri; Ocal, Houston; Durham, North Carolina; and Tampa and Ocala, Florida.

Near Tampa, federal agents raided a 10-bedroom, 10.5-bathroom, 28,000-square-foot home allegedly associated with Taylor. 

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“Everyone was like, how could a pastor afford to live in a house like that?” neighbor Sheilah Mauldin told Fox Tampa. “I mean, even some of the people who live there couldn’t afford to live in that particular house in there. I hope it’s not true, but if it is, you know he deserves everything he’s going to get.”

Taylor refers to himself as “Apostle” and to Brannon as his Executive Director. He also claimed to have had multiple face-to-face encounters with God and that God had given him the keys to the “Kingdom on Earth,” according to a federal indictment.

Their organization ran a call center that solicited donations for KOGGC/JMMI, authorities said. Taylor established his first call center in Taylor, Michigan, and then operated call centers across the country, including in Florida, Texas, and Missouri.

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Taylor refers to himself as Jesus’s best friend and claims God has given him the “keys to the Kingdom on Earth,” prosecutors said. He has also claimed that anyone who defies his orders and commands is defying God and will suffer in hell.

Taylor and Brannon allegedly compelled their victims to work at their call centers and to serve as his “armor bearers,” who were forced to fulfill his demands around the clock, prosecutors said.

The pair also allegedly controlled every aspect of the victims’ lives, including forcing them to work at call centers for long hours without pay. They also set “unobtainable” daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly monetary donation goals, authorities said.

If victims disobeyed an order or failed to achieve their monetary goals, Taylor and Brannon punished them with public humiliation, additional work, food and shelter restrictions, psychological abuse, forced repentance, sleep deprivation, physical assaults, and threats of divine judgment in the form of sickness, accidents, and eternal damnation, the Justice Department said.

The 23-page indictment showed text messages from Taylor, including one from March 2022 when he allegedly texted a group chat: “Point blank…if you don’t work, you can’t eat.”

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A September 2021 text message from Taylor to one victim allegedly read: “How is it in 5 hours you’;; have only raised $6k?… this is a marathon!! You’ll are not taking this seriously enough!!”

“THIS HAS TO STOP!! Nobody gets lunch or dinner!!” he added. Over the next 5 hours if they don’t make up for this they are not going to bed until 4am.”

Many of the laborers moved into the Taylor, Michigan, building or were housed in separate residential locations and bused to the call center to work every day.

Meanwhile, the ministry allegedly received millions in donations each year through its call centers. Taylor and Brannon allegedly used much of the money to purchase luxury properties, vehicles, and sporting equipment such as a boat, jet skis, and ATVs.

Many of the vehicles purchased included several Mercedes-Benz cars and three Bentleys, according to court documents.

Since 2014, Taylor has received around $50 million in donations, authorities said.

“Money laundering is tax evasion in progress, and in this case, the proceeds funded an alleged human trafficking ring and supported a luxury lifestyle under the guise of a religious ministry,” said Karen Wingerd, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office.

Some church pastors have used a series of tax loopholes and lax federal government oversight to enrich themselves for years, said Nathan Apffel, director of “The Religion Business,” a multi-part documentary slated to be released on Amazon in September. 

“Shrewd pastors or shrewd businessmen and women have taken leadership positions and will kind of often use the benefits that the government has given churches and use those for ill intent to benefit themselves and David Taylor is a perfect example of that,” he told Fox News Digital. 

Apffel noted that the way Taylor allegedly spent money was a pattern he saw in scale. 

“The same rulebook that David Taylor played by, every single religious institution in the U.S. plays by those same rules,” he said. “That means anybody can do whatever they want and it falls back to the moral compass of leadership.”

“One thing we always say is ‘human will human,” he added. “When there’s an opportunity to cheat the system or benefit yourself without accountability, it usually will end up happening.”

Taylor also had sexual relationships with many of the women in the organization, prosecutors allege. Many flew out to engage in sexual relations with him, authorities said. He also insisted on discretion and encouraged the women not to befriend one another.

Taylor started JMMI in Michigan in the mid-2000s. Eventually, he stopped the services and turned JMMI into a call center where laborers made “cold calls” to individuals to obtain monetary donations for him and the ministry.

In addition, he demanded the laborers give up their lives to serve JMMI full-time.

In 2019, the nonprofit tax-exempt status for JMMI was revoked. However, Taylor maintained the organization and changed the name to the Kingdom of God Global Church (KOGGC). He then reapplied for a new tax-exempt status, which he was awarded.

Taylor and Brannon face up to 60 years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines.

Brannon appeared in a Tampa federal courtroom on Wednesday, Fox Tampa reported. She told a judge that she had two private attorneys, out of St. Louis and Oklahoma, who were already working with them. However, she said she hadn’t heard from either of them.