HOUSTON (TX)
The Roys Report [Chicago IL]
August 27, 2025
By Liz Lykins
The FBI today arrested the leaders of Joshua Media Ministries International (JMMI) in a series of raids across several states for allegedly using psychological and physical abuse to coerce victims into soliciting millions.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, JMMI leaders, David Taylor and Michelle Brannon, ran a forced labor organization and a multi-million-dollar money laundering conspiracy. The department called the arrests a “nationwide takedown” of a human trafficking scheme that operated in Michigan, Florida, Texas, and Missouri.
Taylor, 53, and Brannon, 56, were taken into custody this morning in North Carolina and Florida, after a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Michigan returned a ten-count indictment.
Additionally, the FBI raided JMMI properties in Tampa, Houston, North Carolina, and Michigan this morning, according to reports from multiple news sites.
“Money laundering is tax evasion in progress,” said Karen Wingerd, an agent for the IRS Criminal Investigation, Detroit Field Office said in a statement. “And in this case, the proceeds funded an alleged human trafficking ring and supported a luxury lifestyle under the guise of a religious ministry.”
Based in Taylor, Michigan, JMMI is also known as the Kingdom of God Global Church (KOGGC). The ministry claims to offer dream interpretations, prophecies, miraculous healings, and more, according to its website.
Taylor describes himself as an “Apostle” who has personally met Jesus face-to-face multiple times. Taylor also boasts that he has brought multiple people back from the dead.
Brannon serves as JMMI’s executive director.
The Department of Justice said that Taylor and Brannon forced victims to work at call centers for the ministry. These centers then brought in millions, which leaders then used to buy themselves luxury items.
Taylor has received around $50 million in donations since 2014, the Department said.
The Department added that if convicted, Taylor and Brannon face up to 20 years in prison on each of their alleged crimes.
The leaders have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit forced labor, eight counts of forced labor, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The Roys Report (TRR) reached out to JMMI for comment but did not hear back prior to publication.
Taylor told victims they would suffer in hell
According to the indictment, Taylor and Brennan’s schemes centered around call centers that have been using phone solicitors to raise money for JMMI since 2013.
The call center workers were unpaid and had to raise excessive amounts of money for the ministry. If they didn’t meet the extreme fundraising goals, they faced severe punishments.
At one point, Taylor texted a staff member to take away workers’ food if they didn’t reach a fundraising goal. “We must make them fast and pray!!” he reportedly said.
They would also be punished through humiliation, sleep deprivation, forced “repentance,” and spiritual threats of divine judgment.
To encourage donations, Taylor forced the workers to lie and say that the money would be spent on charitable work, like combating human trafficking.
Instead, Taylor and Brannon used the money to purchase luxury properties, luxury vehicles, and sporting equipment such as a boat, jet skis, and ATVs.
Taylor has also recruited people to work as his “armor bearers,” who acted as Taylor’s personal servants and served him around the clock, the indictment said.
The armor bearers, who were also unpaid, provided Taylor food and transportation, maintained his house and car, and ensured that any women transported to Taylor’s house took Plan B.
Taylor told his victims that if they disobeyed him, they would be “defying God and will suffer in hell,” according to the indictment.
Taylor controlled every aspect of these workers’ lives, the indictment said. He reportedly forced them to sleep in the call center and stay there at all times, unless given permission to leave.
Additionally, Taylor required his workers to legally declare themselves homeless so that he could have control of the government funds given to them.
Raids conducted across the country
Alongside the indictment, the FBI raided multiple JMMI properties this morning.
FOX 26-TV News in Houston reported that agents stormed into a hotel owned by the ministry and escorted out 17 individuals.
The former hotel was going to be used as a Bible school, campus, and housing center for missionaries and students, according to Taylor.
FBI Houston told TRR in a statement, “The FBI is present at the 14300 block of the North Freeway in Houston, TX, conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity. Due to it being an active scene and an open investigation, no other information will be publicly released at this time.”
WRAL-TV News in Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina, witnessed an FBI raid of a home in Durham that is believed to be owned by someone connected to JMMI. In footage of the event, the house displayed a large banner with the ministry’s other name, Kingdom of God Global Church.
FOX 13-TV News in Tampa Bay, Florida, said that the FBI arrived early in the morning at a Tampa house owned by the ministry and arrested Taylor there. Additionally, WKBD-TV News in Detroit reported that agents entered ministry property in Taylor, Michigan.
FBI Detroit and FBI Tampa declined to comment further to TRR.
JMMI has been accused of being a cult for years
For years, JMMI has been accused of running a cult-like ministry built on intimidation and manipulation by former JMMI members and newspaper exposés.
In 2019 exposé from the News-Herald in Southgate, Michigan, victims shared that the ministry was “a slave labor cult.”
One former worker said that he had to meet a $500 daily donation quota and was “always sleep-deprived.”
That same year, gospel singer Vicki Yohe said that Taylor has manipulated women with pricey gifts and explicit images of them. She also contended that Taylor warned her she would get cancer if she spoke out against him.
Taylor’s ex-wife, Tabitha Taylor, said that her ex-husband had multiple affairs while they were married.
In 2021, the IRS revoked the tax-exempt status of JMMI but granted nonprofit status to Taylor’s Kingdom of God Global Church, as TRR previously reported.
In 2022, Taylor’s church purchased an $8.3 million mansion and guest house in Tampa, Florida, to function as a tax-exempt parsonage.