Another figure in the 2015 church crisis was a U.S. citizen living in the Philippines. American Lito Fruto was expelled from the INC in the early part of 2015 because of his critical statements against the church leadership, which had been rocked by corruption scandals and allegations of abductions supposedly perpetrated by top INC officials. He was initially under the witness protection program by the Philippine government in April 2015, as he claimed to have received threats due to his allegations against the INC leadership. In November 2015, he filed a complaint against members of the INC's top administrative body, the Sanggunian, accusing them of coercion, harassment, threats, and arbitrary detention. Fruto said that he had been forcibly taken at gunpoint from his Caloocan residence based on a complaint of alleged rape against him, which he said was fabricated by INC. Fruto believed that they were held by the INC against their will because of their supposed exposes against the church. He also said the judge in the rape case, who also issued Fruto a hold departure order, was a member of the INC.