Church ‘prophetess’ indicted in $50M money laundering, forced labor scheme — DOJ says donations paid for luxury

Rudro Chakrabarti

Sun, February 22, 2026 at 2:45 AM GMT+9 9 min read

A federal grand jury in Michigan has indicted a third defendant in an alleged forced labor conspiracy tied to the Kingdom of God Global Church — a sprawling ministry that prosecutors say used coercion, abuse and threats of divine punishment to run a multi-state call center operation that brought in roughly $50 million in donations over more than a decade.

Kathleen Klein, 53, known within the church as “Prophetess,” was named in a superseding indictment returned Feb. 11 in the Eastern District of Michigan, the U.S. Department of Justice announced (1). She joins co-defendants David Taylor and Michelle Brannon, who were first indicted in July 2025 and arrested the following month in a coordinated nationwide takedown by the FBI.

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Klein is charged with conspiracy to commit forced labor, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Taylor, the church’s founder, and Brannon, its executive director, each face up to 20 years per count on charges of forced labor, conspiracy to commit forced labor and money laundering conspiracy. All three defendants have denied the allegations.

“This case reflects the gravity of forced labor schemes that strip victims of their basic human rights and subject them to physical and brutal psychological abuse,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva said in a statement. “Combating human trafficking is a top priority for the Department of Justice. We will relentlessly pursue those who facilitate and profit from forced labor and fight to obtain justice for survivors.”

The superseding indictment also added new allegations that Taylor frequently requested and received sexually explicit photographs and videos from female church workers — some of whom prosecutors say were afraid to refuse.

Victims sometimes working 20+ hours per day

The church, formerly known as Joshua Media Ministries International, was headquartered in Taylor, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. According to court filings, Taylor referred to himself as an “Apostle” and claimed to be Jesus Christ’s “best friend” and “second in command” (2). The Justice Department says the church operated at least nine call centers across Michigan, Missouri, Florida and Texas (3).

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Prosecutors say victims were forced to work grueling hours — sometimes exceeding 20 hours per day, according to the federal indictment — soliciting donations by phone without pay. Workers were assigned aggressive daily, weekly and monthly fundraising targets that the DOJ described as unattainable.

According to the indictment, workers were instructed to tell donors that their money would be used to build wells in impoverished parts of the world and to fight human trafficking — while the organization was allegedly trafficking the very workers making those calls (4).

Those who fell short or pushed back faced a range of punishments: public humiliation, sleep deprivation, physical violence, withholding of food and shelter, forced repentance rituals and threats of “divine judgment in the form of sickness, accidents, death, and eternal damnation.”

Klein allegedly sent text messages to “Houston Managers” in 2024 assigning victims to “heavy labor” and threatening to put people “out to the streets,” according to a 29-page federal indictment reviewed by FOX 13 Tampa Bay (5). Workers reportedly slept in call center facilities or ministry-owned houses and were not allowed to leave without permission. Taylor’s personal servants, referred to internally as “armor bearers,” were also allegedly subjected to exploitative conditions.

Where did all that money go?

Since 2014, the organization collected approximately $50 million in donations, according to prosecutors. Church leaders allegedly funneled those funds into a portfolio of luxury real estate, high-end vehicles and personal goods.

The properties purchased include an $8.3 million mansion in Tampa’s exclusive Avila neighborhood — previously owned by Tampa Bay Buccaneers co-owner Darcie Glazer Kassewitz, according to a deed filed in Hillsborough County (6) — and a 10,000-square-foot mansion in Wildwood, Missouri, formerly owned by rapper Nelly. The church also owned multiple additional properties in the St. Louis suburb of Chesterfield, along with holdings in Ocala, Florida, Houston and Michigan.

Prosecutors say the proceeds also paid for Mercedes-Benzes, Bentleys, a Rolls Royce, multiple bulletproof vehicles, a $105,000 boat, jet skis, ATVs, airline tickets and designer clothing.

Taylor’s lavish spending drew scrutiny years before the federal charges. In a deposition that went viral around 2015, he struggled to explain a $2.8 million residence, three luxury vehicles and an annual clothing budget of approximately $30,000, which he attributed to “sweating through all his clothes” during frequent travel (7).

MinistryWatch, a nonprofit that tracks transparency in religious organizations, gives the ministry an “F” transparency grade and a Donor Confidence Score of zero — its lowest possible rating (8).

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A gaping hole in nonprofit oversight

While the Kingdom of God Global Church case is striking on its own, it illustrates a broader vulnerability in how the U.S. oversees religious organizations and the billions of dollars that flow through them each year.

Unlike every other type of 501©(3) nonprofit, churches are exempt from filing IRS Form 990 — the annual financial disclosure that requires secular charities to publicly report their revenue, expenses and executive compensation (9). That means donors, regulators and the public have virtually no window into how a church spends its money unless the organization voluntarily discloses that information.

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) estimates that the average organization loses about 5% of its annual revenue to fraud (10). Religious communities may be especially susceptible to what researchers call “affinity fraud,” in which bad actors exploit the trust that naturally exists within a faith community. One analysis applying ACFE methodology to global Christian giving estimated that roughly $62 billion per year is lost to ecclesiastical fraud and embezzlement — more than the total income of global foreign missions (11).

That means the KOGGC case is hardly isolated. In Minnesota, the Feeding Our Future scandal became one of the largest nonprofit fraud cases in U.S. history, with defendants accused of fabricating meal programs to steal roughly $250 million in federal aid (12). In Kansas, six former cult members were sentenced in 2025 for a forced labor conspiracy that targeted minors (13). And in Missouri, the director of the nonprofit New Heights Community Resource Center was charged with siphoning approximately $10 million from federal child nutrition programs to fund a luxury lifestyle.

Congress has the authority to require churches to file financial disclosures, just as their secular counterparts must. But it has historically declined to do so, citing concerns about religious liberty. Critics say it creates a blind spot that bad actors can exploit.

How to protect yourself

For donors who want to ensure their contributions are going where they’re told, experts recommend watching for red flags: a lack of published financial information, pressure to give, leaders with visibly lavish lifestyles and resistance to answering basic questions about how donations are spent.

Before giving, check independent watchdog sites such as MinistryWatch, GuideStar (now Candid), CharityWatch and the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance. Churches that voluntarily publish annual financial reports or Form 990 equivalents are generally sending positive signals. The IRS Exempt Organizations database can also verify an organization’s tax-exempt status.

Anyone who suspects human trafficking or forced labor can contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888, which operates around the clock.

What happens next

Klein faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Taylor, who was denied bond in October 2025, remains in federal custody. Brannon was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond after suffering a cardiac event while jailed; her release conditions include surrendering her passport and having no contact with Taylor or former church members.

The church has denied all allegations. Taylor’s attorney, Larry Margolis, told the Detroit Free Press that the charges lack merit, arguing that Taylor and the church members “were at all times exercising their First Amendment rights to freely practice their religion” (14). Brannon’s attorney has argued separately that she was manipulated and controlled by Taylor at a supervisory level and does not pose a danger to the community.

Despite the federal charges, the Kingdom of God Global Church appears to still be operating — posting Sunday service videos to its YouTube channel as recently as February. And in December, the church filed a petition demanding the government return more than $4.2 million in seized bank funds, along with precious metals, jewelry, designer clothing and other assets confiscated during the August raids. In the filing, the church argued that the government’s seizure far exceeds the $700,000 alleged in the money laundering charges and that holding the assets infringes on its First Amendment right to carry out religious functions, including worship, community outreach and charity. The church also claims it maintains records demonstrating lawful ownership of the seized property, including logs tracking individual donations. The government has argued the seizures followed proper procedures. The court has not yet issued a final ruling.

The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation continue to investigate the case.

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Article sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines_._

U.S. Department of Justice (1, 13); ClickOnDetroit (2); Houston Public Media (3); St. Louis Magazine (4); FOX 13 Tampa Bay (5); MinistryWatch (6, 8, 14); Christian Post (7); National Council of Nonprofits (9); Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (10); Overseas Ministries Study Center (11); CharityWatch (12)

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

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