EFCC arrests general overseer, Theophilus Ebonyi, over N1.3bn fraud.Image: punchng.com
Alleged N1.3 billion fraudster rejects EFCC arrest.
Theophilus Ebonyi, the general overseer of Faith on the Rock Ministry International, has refuted reports that he was detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on suspicion of defrauding the country of N1.3 billion.
Minutes after word of his purported arrest spread, the pastor posted a brief video on his Facebook page, characterising it as “false” and “rumor” spread by bloggers.
The pastor’s arrest and mugshot were first announced by the EFCC on Monday on its verified X handle, @officialEFCC.
The general overseer was apprehended for allegedly cheating churchgoers and others out of N1,319,040,274.31 in fictitious grants from the Ford Foundation, according to the anti-graft agency.
The statement said, in part, “Theophilus Oloche Ebonyi, the General Overseer of Faith on The Rock Ministry International, has been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for defrauding church members and other Nigerians out of N1,319,040,274.31 in fake grants from the Ford Foundation.”
“Ebonyi was arrested for defrauding his victims, which included individuals, NGOs, and non-governmental organisations, by claiming that the Ford Foundation was offering a $20,000,000 grant for an intervention project through his NGO, Theobarth Global Foundation.”
“He allegedly tricked his victims into becoming subscribers of the fraudulent grant by requesting payment for clusters and registration papers.
It was required of each subscriber to pay N1,800,000. Ebonyi allegedly made N1,391,040,274.31 through this agreement.
The Ford Foundation has no agreement, grant, connection, or business with Ebonyi, according to EFCC investigations. The Foundation made it clear that it had no affiliation whatsoever with him or his NGO.
Additionally, the commission has located five properties that he obtained from his illicit activities. The pastor responded via a Facebook video, claiming that neither the anti-graft agency nor any other organisation had detained him.
He also criticised bloggers for supposedly leveraging his image to gain influence. He declared, “I’m here.” The actual lion. The capacity is me. The bare wire is who I am. I’m the only person here.
There are false rumours circulating. It’s untrue. Ignore the bloggers. All they’re doing is attempting to profit from my body. They are trending my picture because of this.
No issues. Not a single arrest made by the EFCC or any other agency. In an exclusive conversation with our correspondent, EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale refuted Ebonyi’s claim when reached on Monday to verify the pastor’s assertion.
“It was not stated when he was arrested,” he said. That is not evident in the statement.
His arrest occurred on the date shown in the mugshot. He had been detained for a considerable amount of time, but we refrained from making any statements while we conducted the inquiry.
“The statement omitted the date of his arrest. It’s intentional. He was given bail and released. You should pay attention to the last part of my statement, where I mentioned that he was still interacting with his victims on numerous social media platforms, including the one you mentioned.
He has been tricking all of his victims by doing this.