5th February, 2024
A cleric, Apostle Theophilus Oloche Ebonyi, the General Overseer of Faith On The Rock Ministry International has been arrested for defrauding church members and other Nigerians of over N1.3 billion as registration fees for grants from the Ford Foundation.
According to a statement from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ebonyi has been defrauding members of his church, NGOs and others with purported intervention projects worth $2 billion by the Ford Foundation through his NGO, Theobarth Global Foundation to assist the less-privileged in the society.
“He allegedly beguiled his victims to subscribe as beneficiaries of the phoney grant by asking them to pay for registration forms and clusters.
“Each subscriber was made to pay N1,800,000( One Million, Eight Hundred Thousand Naira only).
“Through this arrangement, Ebonyi allegedly raked in N1,391,040,274.31. His subscribers are innocent and unsuspecting Nigerians and NGOs across the country,” EFCC said in the statement issued by its spokesperson, Dele Oyewale.
But the anti-graft agency said its investigations showed that Ford Foundation had no arrangement, grant, relationship or business with Ebonyi.
“The Foundation pointedly disclaimed him and his NGO stressing that it had no link whatsoever with them. The Commission has also traced five properties he acquired as proceeds of his criminal dealings.”
“Ebonyi is still reportedly reaching his subscribers on some social media platforms to market his spurious grant from Ford Foundation,” EFCC added.
The anti-graft agency said the cleric would be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded