FORMER Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has been exonerated over a claim that Pastor Emmanuel Omale of the Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry and his wife, Deborah, laundered N573 million for him.
In a judgment on Tuesday on a suit marked FCT/HC/CV2541/2020 filed by Omale, his wife and the church, Justice Yusuf Halilu exonerated Magu of money laundering.
During the investigation of Magu by the Justice Isa Salami-led presidential investigation panel, it was alleged that an investigation by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) revealed that Magu paid N573 million into Omale’s church’s account with which property was allegedly bought in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
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However, Halilu, in his verdict, noted that the evidence before his court showed that Omale’s bank admitted error in its report to the NFIU of entries in Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry’s account.
The judge further held that the bank claimed that the purported N573 million was wrongly reflected as a credit entry in f’s account by its reporting system, which it recently upgraded.
Halilu noted that the bank admitted the error, which occasioned incalculable damage to the reputation of Pastor Omale, his wife, and their church both within and outside the country.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.