Court Clears Ex-EFCC Boss, Ibrahim Magu, Over N573m Fraud

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has cleared the former Acting Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, of money laundering.

It was reported that the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, had claimed that one Pastor Emmanuel Omale of the Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry and his wife, Deborah aided him in laundering N573million.

In a judgment on Tuesday, following 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, revealed that Magu paid N573million into Omale’s church’s account with which property was allegedly bought in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

"However, 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 a 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.