Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court high court has given the former acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Mr. Ibrahim Magu a clean bill of health on the allegation that Pastor Emmanuel Omale of the Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry and his wife, Deborah aided him to launder N573 million.
The court also ordered First City Monument Bank (FCMB) to pay N540.5 million to Omale for defamation of character.
Delivering judgement in a suit marked FCT/HC/CV2541/2020, Yusuf Halilu, said the evidence before the court showed that Omale’s bank admitted error in its report to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (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 the Ministry’s account by its reporting system, which it recently upgraded.
The judge also said the bank admitted the error, which occasioned incalculable damage to the reputation of Omale, his wife, and their church both within and outside the country.
He decided that the claimants’ evidence was adequate to prove the bank was negligent.
Consequently, the court granted the claimants N200 million in general damages, N140.5 million in special damages, and N200 million in aggravated damages.
Recall that the presidential committee on audit of recovered assets (PCARA) had, during the investigation of Magu by the Justice Isa Salami-led presidential investigation panel, alleged that an investigation by the NFIU revealed that Magu paid N573 million into Omale’s church’s account with which a property was allegedly bought in Dubai, using Omale’s name.
The committee based its report on financial documents made available to the NFIU by FCMB.
Omale, through Gordy Uche, had sued the commercial bank and demanded N5 billion in exemplary, aggravated, special and general damages, but the bank opted for a public apology.
