FORMER Acting Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr Ibrahim Magu, has been exonerated over false claim that Pastor Emmanuel Omale of the Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry and his wife, Deborah laundered N573million for him.
In a landmark judgment on Tuesday, Justice Yusuf Halilu exonerated Magu of money laundering.
The judgment was on the suit marked: FCT/HC/CV2541/2020 filed by Omale, his wife and the church.
During the investigation of Magu by the Justice Isa Salami-led presidential investigation panel, it was claimed that an investigation by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, revealed that Magu paid N573million into Omale’s church’s account with which a property was allegedly bought in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, UAE.
But in his verdict, yesterday, Justice Halilu 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 credit entry in Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry’s account by its reporting system, which it recently upgraded.
Justice 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.
