The mansion, located in the Tampa area, was the home of Michelle Brannon, who helped direct the global church of the Kingdom of God along with its founder, David Taylor, according to the authorities.
A raid from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) revealed 57 victims of forced labor living in small spaces in a luxurious Florida mansion linked to the leaders of a church, federal authorities reported.
The raid, whose objective was a tampa mansion where one of the leaders resided, was carried out in August, but judicial records recently presented revealed new details, such as the magnitude of the alleged illegal operations of the organization, WTVT reported.
David Taylor, 53, and Michelle Brannon, 56, are accused of executing a forced labor scheme and money laundering through his church, Kingdom of God Global Church (global church of the Kingdom of God), according to the United States Department of Justice. The Church is based in Michigan. Until October 2 there was no information available about the lawyers of Taylor and Brannon.
Taylor, who calls himself “apostle”, and Brannon, his “executive director”, established call centers throughout the country, treated by followers who worked long days without remuneration and were responsible for collecting donations, according to the authorities.
The authorities claim that “they forced their victims to work in their call centers and to work for Taylor as their ‘weapons carriers’.”
“The scales were Taylor’s personal servants who attended their demands 24 hours a day. Taylor and Brannon controlled every aspect of the daily life of their victims,” federal researchers said. They were not allowed to go anywhere without permission and slept at the facilities where they worked or in a “ministerial house”, according to the authorities.
Taylor and Brannon’s plan was extensive, authorities pointed out in Michigan, Texas, Florida and Missouri. Taylor was arrested in North Carolina and Brannon in Florida. Brannon lived in the Tampa mansion raided by the FBI, the media reported.
While Brannon lived in a wide and comfortable space, surrounded by luxurious comforts, the 57 victims of the house lived in small spaces, often improvised, WTVT reported, citing judicial documents.
Millions of dollars and constant abuses
The call centers generated 50 million dollars for the global church of the Kingdom of God in the last 10 years, authorities pointed out.
“Taylor established unattainable donation goals for victims who worked in the call centers,” authorities said. “If the victims disobeyed an order or did not reach their economic goals, Taylor and Brannon punished them with public humiliation: psychological abuse, forced repentance, sleep deprivation, physical aggressions and threats of divine judgment in the form of disease, accidents and eternal condemnation.”
In the mansion, the authorities claim to have found “multiple natural stone statues and decorative pillars of great value, recently delivered for the installation of gardens on the land of the property, seven Sedanes Mercedes Benz and Dos Bentley”, as well as 500,000 dollars in gold linges in Brannon’s room, WTVT reported.
But money and free labor were not the only objectives, authorities claim.
According to officials, “Taylor demanded that their squires transport women from ministerial houses, airports and other places to Taylor’s location and ensured that transported women take emergency contraceptives Plan B”.
Taylor said he had “multiple encounters face to face with God” and said he was “Jesus’ best friend,” Wdiv said, citing judicial records.
Sexual demands and graphic tests
He often demanded sexually explicit videos and photos to the women of the organization, and the researchers claim to have found thousands of those videos, the media reported.
On Brannon’s phone, the researchers found an explicit video sent to Taylor by a woman who cried and apologized for the delay in finishing her homework, Wdiv reported.
Taylor and Brannon now face forced labor charges, conspiracy to perform forced labor and conspiracy to launder money, authorities said. Both will be tried in a Michigan court.
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