By Enyichukwu Enemanna
An Abuja High Court has exonerated the former Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu and Prophet Emmanuel Omale of the Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry of N573million Money laundering charges.
The Presiding Judge, Justice Halilu Yusuf in his judgment on Tuesday, exonerated Magu of money laundering.
The judgment follows a suit filed by Omale, his wife Deborah and the church marked: FCT/HC/CV2541/2020.
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, 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.
