Justice Halilu Yusuf of the Federal Capital Territory High Court has exonerated the former acting chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu and Prophet Emmanuel Omale of the Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry of N573million Money laundering claims.
Recall that the Justice Isa Salami-led presidential investigation panel that investigated Magu after he was asked to step aside, claimed in its report that an investigation by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, revealed that the ex-EFCC boss paid N573million into Omale’s church’s FCMB account and the said money was used to purchase a property in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, UAE.
Omale had approached the court to challenge the claim.
In the ruling delivered today October 5, Justice Halilu noted that the evidence before the court showed that Omale’s bank admitted error in its report to the NFIU, of entries in the Divine hand of God Prophetic ministries account. The judge further held that the bank claimed that the purported N573 million was wrongly reflected as a credit entry in Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry’s account by its reporting system, which it recently upgraded.
Justice Halilu noted that FCMB admitted the error, which occasioned incalculable damage to the reputation of Pastor Omale, his wife and their church both within and outside the country.
The judge further awarded the sum of N540 million Naira as damages in favour of the church.