A prosecution witness (PW2) and victim of advanced fee fraud yesterday narrated to a Plateau State High Court how a fake pastor and a couple allegedly defrauded her of N28.9 million.
The pastor, Anu Ojo-Olakunori, and the couple, Mr and Mrs Josephine Kunle Farinuola, who posed as parents of Ojo-Olakunori are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) before Justice Christine Dabup of High Court IV, Jos. The trio are being tried on 16 count charge of conspiracy to commit felony to wit; obtaining money under false pretence and, therefore, committed offenses contrary to sections 8(a), 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other related offences Act, 2006 and punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act.
When the case up yesterday, the victim, Mrs Ladi Deborah-Alabi, a child protection specialist, told the court that the trio took advantage of her, following a challenge she was going through at her work place.
Alabi, while being led in testimony by Mr E.O. Ehiablic, EFCC prosecution counsel, said that she got to know the fake pastor through her pastor in Mountain of Fire Ministry in Bauchi State, Pastor Jaafaru Joseph.
According to her, after relating her predicament to Joseph, he told her that he would connect her with his spiritual father in the person of Ojo-Olakunori.
She said that right from that time she spoke with the fake pastor on mobile phone and he prayed for her, it became a routine until one day he sent Joseph to wash her hair with anointing oil and poured a bottle of Swan water at a road junction and in her compound.
“Thereafter, he, Ojo-Olakunor, invited me to Jos and introduced Mr and Mrs Kundera-Farinuola as his parents at Itobaba Quarters in Jos metropolis. I looked at the couple being elderly people, who wouldn’t allow anything fishy between us, my trust to whatever he (Ojo-Olakunor) tells me became stronger.
“Right from that time he (Ojo-Olakunor) was calling me on cell phone on daily basis and prayed for me sometime for good one hour.
“At first he (Ojo-Olakunori) asked me to saw a seed toward solving my problems by providing N520,000 for purchase of 21 big preacher Bibles and funds to be distributed to 21 General Overseers of various ministries and l transferred those monies from my Union Bank account to his Guarantee Trust Bank account.
“Right from that day it has been one transfer to another. Between January 14 and January 17, 2017, I transferred N2.3 million for the purchase of ministry land in Jos as a covenant seed.”
The presiding judge, who told the court that she had an official engagement to attend, adjourned the case to November 15 for continuation of hearing.