THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested the General Overseer of Faith On The Rock Ministry International, Theophilus Oloche Ebonyi, for defrauding his church members of N1. 3 billion.
This was disclosed in a statement by EFCC’s Spokesman, Dele Oyewale, in a post on X on Monday, February 5.
According to Oyewale, Ebonyi was detained for marketing a fictitious $20 billion intervention project through his Theobarth Global Foundation. He falsely stated that the Ford Foundation in the United States provided the fund as a grant to underprivileged individuals.
His victims included non-governmental organizations and private citizens, said the commission.
According to the statement, the suspect asked his victims to pay for registration forms and documents to trick them into becoming recipients of the fraudulent grant.
He forced every subscriber to pay N1.8 million, and he smiled to his bank, receiving N1.3 billion from gullible Nigerians and non-governmental organizations nationwide.
The EFCC investigations revealed that the Ford Foundation had no agreement, grant, connection, or business with the accused.
The Foundation clarified that it had no connection with him or his NGO.
According to the commission, it has also located five properties that Ebonyi obtained using the money he received from his illegal activities.
Ebonyi continues to hawk his fictitious “Ford Foundation” grant to his subscribers on various social media sites, even after being arrested by the agency.
The statement indicated that the suspect would be charged after the investigations.
Meanwhile, the EFCC, in a report on Sunday, February 4, detailed how victims of fraud could write a petition to the commission on perceived economic and financial crimes.
Nigerians should have unfettered access to the commission to support its efforts to combat financial and economic crimes. One of the ways to do this is by filing petitions.
The commission receives petitions on financial crimes, including bank fraud, advance fee fraud, money laundering, and economic sabotage.
Oyewale, in a chat with The ICIR on Monday, January 29, explained how to write a petition to the commission.
You can read the report here.
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