The woman accused of attempting to smuggle hundreds of thousands of dollars in U.S. currency out of the country aboard a private jet bound for the Philippines is the registered Hawaii agent of a Philippine-based church that claims to have millions of followers worldwide and whose founder is a longtime friend of Philippine President
Rodrigo Duterte.
Felina S. Salinas is charged with bulk cash smuggling. She is free after signing a $25,000 bond and posting $5,000 of it in cash. Salinas is scheduled to return to U.S. District Court next week for a hearing to determine whether the case can proceed to a grand jury.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says Salinas declared that she was carrying $40,000 in U.S. currency and 1,000 Philippine pesos worth about $20, but was found to have $335,000 in U.S. dollars and $9,000 in Australian currency in her carry-on bag. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested her at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on Feb. 13.
Federal law requires travelers carrying currency into or out of the country to declare amounts over $10,000.
Salinas is the registered agent of The Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name, Inc. According to state business records, Salinas registered KJC in
December 2013 as a foreign nonprofit corporation. The records show that KJC has been registered as a domestic nonprofit in California since 1996. It is also registered in Connecticut.
KJC’s business address is an office in Waipahu. When Salinas registered KJC, she listed her own address as a home in a gated community in Makakilo.
According to Honolulu property tax records, KJC bought the Makakilo property in November 2013 for $1.125 million. It is a two-story, six-bedroom, four-bathroom home overlooking Kapolei. Its 2018 tax-assessed value is
$1.37 million. KJC paid for the property in part with an $843,750 mortgage signed by Salinas as vice president, according to records filed with the state Bureau of Conveyances.
KJC’s California and Hawaii registrations list KJC founder Apollo Quiboloy as president of the corporation.
Homeland Security Investigations says there were two crew members and three other passengers aboard the private jet with Salinas. KJC representatives have so far dodged questions about whether Quiboloy was one of the other passengers. They told Philippine media that Quiboloy was never detained in Honolulu. One told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser by email that Quiboloy is in the Philippines “and has not violated any U.S. law.” When asked about the $335,000 and Salinas’ connection to KJC, the representative said, “Our lawyers are working on it.”
A person who answered the telephone at KJC’s Waipahu address hung up when asked about Salinas.
Quiboloy founded KJC in Davao City, Philippines, in 1985. His friendship with Duterte dates back to when Duterte was mayor of Davao City.
KJC prints two newspapers for its members worldwide, runs 17 radio stations and has its own global television channel. It claims to have 4 million followers in the Philippines and 2 million outside the country.