Christ Embassy indicted for fraud, round tripping, money laundering in the UK

The United Kingdom branch of Christ Embassy has come under fire by the UK Charity Commission for fraudulent practices which border around money laundering, embezzlement, round-tripping and misappropriation of grants.

The church founded by widely renowned televangelist, Chris Oyakhilome was said to be engaged in several fraudulent practices including illegally paying more than N827 million (£1,767,250) to entities and organisations it shares close relationships with.

All these were uncovered in a five year investigation by the UK Charity Commission, the agency that regulates charity organisations in the country. The commission was forced to place the church under check when it first discovered the massive decline of the church profits in 2012 without any reasonable explanation from the board of trustees.

As at 2012, Christ Embassy was at the top of its game financially. Its membership grew, as well as donation including tithes and offerings. New chapters were opened all across the UK, England, Manchester and Scotland as well.

That year, its expenditure was N4.49 billion (£8.88 million), but the church had an income of N8.43 billion (£16.72 million), which left it with a surplus of N3.96 billion (£7.84 million) excluding a gift of over N1 billion (£2 million) in net asset donated to it by its subsidiary, Christ Embassy Limited.

“The ministry is therefore in a comfortable position to meet all financial commitments and projections for the coming year,” the church boasted.

In 2013, the music changed. Account balances were dwindling and the church income dropped from N8.43 billion (£16.72 million) to N7.1 billion (£14.1 million), which was a drop of N1.3 billion (£2.6 million) from the income of the previous year.

It kept getting worse till Oyakhilome lost a fierce power tussle over the church in the UK with his ex-wife, Anita, now known as Anita Ebhodaghe Schafer. She was the head of the UK branch of the church, before Oyakilome who presided over the charity’s board of trustee since inception until he was forced to resign in 2014.

An inquiry into the finances of the UK branch of the famous church found evidence the church may be laundering or diverting funds of up to N288 million (£615,420.00) from its UK branches to six accounts controlled by the church’s Nigerian branch, Christ Embassy Nigeria, MyNigeria learnt.

The Charity Commission also found that the church, which was founded in 1996 and has over 90 worship centres across the UK, illegally registered three properties in the names of two members of its board of trustees, failed to pay taxes worth over £250,000 on expenditures by employees, failed to secure adequate insurance, and had an instance of criminal violation of British town planning and building regulations.