Fake prophet jailed for N136.4m fraud in Enugu

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Enugu Zonal Directorate, has secured the conviction and sentence of one Godwin Sunday Ajuluchukwucheya, also known as Prophet Sunday Koboko.

Prophet Koboko was arraigned before Justice H. O. Eya of the Enugu State High Court, sitting in Independence Layout.

He was prosecuted on a two-count charge bordering on obtaining by false pretence and stealing to the tune of N136,436,000.

The offences, according to the court, contravene Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and are punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.

However, Ajuluchukwucheya pleaded guilty to the charges when they were read to him.

In view of his plea, counsel to the EFCC, Assistant Commander of the EFCC (ACE II) Rotimi Ajobiewe, prayed the court to convict and sentence him accordingly.

Justice Eya thereafter convicted and sentenced him to one year imprisonment, with an option of a N500,000 fine.

The court also ordered that the convict’s landed property, covered by a Customary Certificate of Occupancy dated July 25, 1989, and registered as No. 92 at Page 92 in Volume 512 of the Land Registry, Enugu, be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The property is to be sold, with the proceeds used as restitution for the victims of the offence.

The EFCC received a petition from one Mrs. Ngene Nkiruka Jane, who alleged that the convict presented himself as a true man of God and lured her into believing that he had the power to raise her late husband from the dead.

She further alleged that she was persuaded to pay into a fraudulent investment scheme in which members were promised returns based on their investments. The total amount she paid for the scheme and the purported resurrection of her late husband was N6,700,000.

Another petitioner, Okey Uwakwe, alleged that the convict convinced him that he could influence his brother, who had travelled abroad in 1997, to return to Nigeria. He was allegedly lured into paying N6,231,400 for the purported spiritual exercise.

During investigations, members of the convict’s ministry began flooding the Directorate with claims of how they had been defrauded by him.

Investigations also revealed that his modus operandi involved luring members of his ministry into purchasing so-called “prosperity products,” including “Miracle Sticker,” “Spiritual Dragon,” “Holy Ghost Thunder,” and other items.