Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja has convicted and sentenced pastor Harry Uyanwanne and his wife, Oluwakemi Odemuyiwa (also known as Kristin Uyanwanne), to 10 years in prison for stealing N52 million belonging to one late Mrs Odemuyiwa Janet Adeola.
Justice Dada also ordered the deregistration and closure of Temple International Church for misusing God’s name and the church to defraud others.
The judge handed down the verdict after finding the convicts guilty of a seven-count conspiracy charge, stealing and obtaining money by false pretence brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The prosecuting counsel, Sunday Daji, told the court during the trial that the couple had sold Mrs Adeola’s property, located at plot 32, block 9, Magodo Residential Scheme 1, Ikeja local government, to Mr Kingsley Atere for N42,000,000.
Daji had also claimed that the convicts dishonestly converted the sum of N10,000,000 property of the late Mrs Adeola to their use.
He further maintained that the offences are contrary to Section 1 (2) and (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006 and Sections 278 and 285 (1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria No. 11 of 2011.
They had pleaded not guilty to the charge when they were arraigned on February 26, 2020
However, in her judgment, Justice Dada held that the prosecution had proven its case against the convicts beyond all reasonable doubts.
The judge, therefore, sentenced the couple to three years in prison for the first count. Harry Uyanwanne received a sentence of seven years for counts two to six.
Oluwakemi Odemuyiwa was sentenced to three years but was discharged and acquitted on the seventh count. Consequently, Uyanwarve has a total of 10 years, while Odemuyiwa will serve six years, with the sentences running concurrently.
Additionally, Justice Dada ordered Temple International Church to be deregistered and closed and required the convicts to pay restitution of N31 million to the nominal complainant within 60 days of the judgment.
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