HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — An FBI investigation is underway in north Harris County after authorities say two self-professed religious leaders were using a ministry building for human trafficking, money laundering, and forced labor.
On Wednesday morning, the FBI confirmed it raided a building along the North Freeway near Airtex, owned by the Kingdom of God Global Church (KOGGC), formerly known as Joshua Media Ministries International Global (JMMI). The FBI says that the building is one of nine call centers operated by the self-proclaimed religious leaders.
Church properties in Michigan, Missouri, and Florida were also raided on Wednesday.
A federal grand jury returned a ten-count indictment, accusing the two religious leaders, David Taylor, 53, and Michelle Brannon, 56, of using physical and psychological abuse to coerce victims to solicit tens of millions of dollars in donations.
According to the indictment, Taylor claimed to have had multiple face-to-face encounters with God and refers to himself as “apostle” as well as “Jesus’ best friend.” Brannon is listed as the church’s executive director.
Records show that the victims were referred to as his “armor bearers” and were allegedly compelled to work at their call centers as Taylor’s personal servants.
The FBI stated that Taylor and Brannon controlled every aspect of the daily living of their victims, who were not allowed to leave the call center facility.
ABC13 spoke with people at the City Electric supply businesses next door who said they witnessed unusual behavior.
“They would come out and mow this big field here, with a push mow, and it would be from sunup to sundown pretty much all day, we joke around saying it was for punishment, and now seeing all this, we kind of assumed that it probably was,” next door employee Sean Aucoin said.
The indictment alleges Taylor demanded that his “armor bearers” transport women from ministry houses, airports, and other locations to Taylor’s location and ensured the women who were transported to him took Plan B, which are emergency contraceptives.
“Taylor set unattainable daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly monetary donation goals for victims working in the call centers and required victims to follow the orders he created without question. If victims disobeyed an order or failed to reach his monetary goals, Taylor and Brannon punished the victims 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 FBI said.
According to the indictment, Taylor texted church volunteers in 2021: “How is it in 5 hours you’ll have only raised $6k. Make sure no one eats until these numbers change. If they don’t change in the next 5 hours, you’re going to work until 4 a.m. !!”
He also allegedly referred to a call center as a “ruthless bootcamp” and wrote, “THROW WATER ON THEIR FACES! Especially the people not doing anything or helping bring in the money!! You tell them I don’t care about them being sick!!”
Taylor and Brannon are accused of using millions of dollars in donations to purchase luxury properties, vehicles, and sporting equipment, including a boat, jet skis, ATVs, and even thousands of dollars worth of seafood in 2021. Four Mercedes, three Bentleys, and a Rolls-Royce are listed among the vehicles Taylor allegedly purchased with donated funds.
According to the indictment, Taylor received about $50 million in donations since 2014.
Prior to Wednesday’s raids, the church denied misusing funds, being a cult, or forcing people to work long hours in a post on its website.
“This is not a labor cult, or cult of any kind,” the post reads. “They are liars.”
Aucoin said every encounter he noticed was strange.
“We’ve seen a little bit of UPS drivers. They come in, they can’t go in the gate. They have to just get there and back out. They won’t let them go in or turn around,” Aucoin said, adding they figured something was off.
“I wasn’t surprised at all. We knew this was coming, just didn’t know when,” Aucoin said.
Anyone who has information about human trafficking should report that information to the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free at 1-888-373-7888, which operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Further information is available online, and information on the Justice Department’s efforts to combat human trafficking can be found on the organization’s website.
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