TAMPA, Fla. — David Taylor, who calls himself “Apostle” and “Jesus’s best friend” and claims God has given him “the keys to the Kingdom on Earth,” ran a false Christian church, according to federal agents who estimated his church had received about $50 million in donations since 2014.
To raise money, some of which supported Taylor’s lifestyle of greed and lust, his Kingdom of God Global Church, formerly known as Joshua Media Ministries International, set up call centers with unpaid workers, including two in Florida, according to prosecutors.
The call centers and “ministry” properties in Florida were at 706 Guisando De Avila, a 10-bedroom mansion with a pool on a 5.9-acre lot, in Tampa, and at 1280 SW 38 St., a 7-bedroom mansion with a tennis court on a 3.4-acre lot, in Ocala, according to the federal grand jury’s 10-count indictment filed on July 23 in Michigan…