Metro
Court sentences pastor to seven years in prison for N1m fraud
The Oyo State High Court, Ibadan, on Friday sentenced one Pastor Odenigbo Theophilus to seven years in prison for N1million fraud.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned Theophilus for an advance fee fraud after he defrauded a retiree, Mr. Ojo Gbadebo, of N1million under false pretence.
The EFCC counsel, Oyelakin Oyeyemi, told the court that the pastor promised to help the complainant to invest his money in an engine oil business that would yield N80,000 interest monthly.
He urged the court to sentence the preacher accordingly.
The defence counsel, Mr. Ennis Olayinka, urged the court to be lenient with his client, saying he was a first offender and the breadwinner of his family.
Justice Muniru Owolabi, who found Theophilus guilty in a two-hour judgment, said the prosecutor had proved the charge of advance fee fraud against the convict beyond a reasonable doubt.
READ ALSO: 34-yr-old pastor paraded in court for kidnapping, raping choir mistress
Owolabi said the pastor admitted in court that he used the money to offset a loan instead of investing it in the oil business as agreed.
He added that the convict failed to pay the retiree neither the interest nor the capital.
The judge held that the convict betrayed the trust reposed on him by the retiree being a pastor of the Deeper Life Bible Church in Abolongo, Oyo town.
He, therefore, sentenced the defendant to seven years in prison with hard labour and without an option of fine.
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