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The commission also found two alleged incidents of fraud by former employees involving significant sums, both of which were not reported until a number of years after the frauds were discovered.

The United Kingdom Charity Commission appointed an interim manager for the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries International since August 2019.

The UK charity regulator appointed an interim manager for the church following a 2018 inquiry which raised concerns over mismanagement of funds.

The inquiry was launched after MFM with an average income of £4m annually repeatedly failed to file financial information on time.

The commission also found two alleged incidents of fraud by former employees involving significant sums, both of which were not reported until a number of years after the frauds were discovered.

It then suspended the church Board of Trustees led by Dr Daniel Olukoya and appointed Adam Stephens of Smith & Williamson as Interim Manager.

Other trustees suspended include Florence Sankey O.A, Oluwafemi Emmanuel Oladipo, Bamidele Omotayo, Kehinde Williams, and Enock Sunday Olaniyan.

The commission however, didn’t state which of them engaged in fraud but it stated that the lead trustee had an issue without expressly mentioning Olukoya.
When contacted, one Stephanie at the Charity Commission press unit told SaharaReporters that she can’t disclose if the church had been returned to its original trustees until further checks were made.

SaharaReporters had in 2018 reported that a pastor and former members of the church alleged that Dr Olukoya and MFM had willfully and intentionally evaded United States Customs Service duties and had evaded tax payments to the government.

The pastor of a Maryland branch in the US averred in court filings that MFM and its General Overseer, Olukoya, engaged in "fraudulent activities" in the United States of America, claiming that MFM International was in the practice of knowingly and deliberately making false claims to evade U.S. Customs duties and taxes on books exported from Nigeria to America.

The nature of the activities stems from the fact that Olukoya shipped prayer books (specifically, “70 Days Prayer & Fasting” and “Pray Your Way Into...” to various U.S-based MFM branches with a cover letter categorising the books as “donations” to be distributed to local parishioners.

However, once delivered to the United States, instructions were then emailed to U.S. pastors by MFM International and or MFM USA instructing them of the price they must charge parishioners in selling these books.

The pastors were then instructed to remit the earnings of their sales to MFM International.

Angered by the report, Olukoya filed three libel suits against the Publisher of SaharaReporters, Omoyele Sowore, in Nigeria and another one before the District Court of Maryland, United States.

He said he was constrained to take legal action against Sowore, SaharaReporters Media Group Incorporated, and the Incorporated Trustees of Sahara Media Foundation for their alleged failure to desist from publishing false and malicious articles against him and his church.

While all the cases in Nigeria have been dismissed, that of the US is still ongoing.

Some Nigerian pastors recently questioned the rationale behind the inclusion of religious centres and charity organisations into the Company and Allied Matters Acts signed by President Muhammadu Buhari into law on August 7, 2020.

Several of the pastors have been hit by Charity Commission sanctions over the years in the UK for fraudulent activities.

Under the new law, religious bodies and charity organisations will be strictly regulated by the Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission and a supervising minister.

CAMA provides that the commission may by order suspend the trustees of an association or a religious body and appoint an interim manager or managers to coordinate its affairs where it reasonably believes that there had been any misconduct or mismanagement, or where the affairs of the association are being run fraudulently or where it is necessary or desirable for the purpose of public interest.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/commission-appoints-interim-manager-to-mountain-of-fire-and-miracles-ministries-international
http://saharareporters.com/2020/08/19/how-united-kingdom-commission-appointed-interim-manager-mountain-fire-and-miracles

The same law Nigerian President has just introduced, but the GOs and CAN are kicking.

The British introduced the Christianity to us, can we be more catholic than the pope?
There was a time Pastor David Oyedepo had issue with the British Government and was banned from entering the kingdom, why was he not cursing them like he does to nigerian government?

This is just the judgment on MFM, Matthew Ashimolowo’s KICC fraudulent acts and the judgement is on the way. There are more evidences against him being uncovered daily.

Why would Churches be used for fraud?
If the churches have clean hands, they need not being worried.

Amotolongbo:
The same law Nigerian President has just introduced, but the GOs and CAN are kicking.

The British introduced the Christianity to us, can we be more catholic than the pope?
There was a time Pastor David Oyedepo had issue with the British Government and was banned from entering the kingdom, why was he not cursing them like he does to nigerian government?

This is just the judgment on MFM, Matthew Ashimolowo’s KICC fraudulent acts and the judgement is on the way. There are more evidences against him being uncovered daily.

Why would Churches be used for fraud?
If the churches have clean hands, they need not being worried.

While the UK can perhaps trust it's government for transparency can the same be said of ours. How can the same government that is incapable of managing the economy now be supervising the church? Whenever there is fraud, it shouldn't be covered but to now ask a Government that is not neutral to supervise the affairs of the church of God is to invite further crisis.

As at today we know that both civilians and military are fragmented in their view on this matter. How then will government enforce a sensitive matter of this nature without inviting war? We can certainly do without this law, it is not what will take us to the state of utopia

Na uk get the church

middlebelter:
While the UK can perhaps trust it's government for transparency can the same be said of ours. How can the same government that is incapable of managing the economy now be supervising the church? Whenever there is fraud, it shouldn't be covered but to now ask a Government that is not neutral to supervise the affairs of the church of God is to invite further crisis.

As at today we know that both civilians and military are fragmented in their view on this matter. How then will government enforce a sensitive matter of this nature without inviting war? We can certainly do without this law, it is not what will take us to the state of utopia

You are right talking about the non transparency of our government.

Nevertheless, the point raised by CAN and GOs is that it is not biblical for government to interfere in the activities of the church. Not the transparency of the government.

How MFM Pastor, Olukoya, Connived With Officials Who Stole Church's Funds In United Kingdom –Charity Commission
August 21, 2020
Sahara Reporters, New York
NEWS
REPORTS

The United Kingdom Charity Commission has revealed why an interim manager was appointed for the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries International in August 2019.

The commission had in March 2018 opened a statutory inquiry into a number of concerns at the church, which included the repeated late filing of financial information and a failure in the administration resulting in opportunities for significant losses to the charity.

The commission in a statement seen by SaharaReporters said the interim manager assumes these duties at the exclusion of the charity’s trustees, stating that the trustees retain control over matters relating to religious activities.

The UK charity regulator claimed it had serious concerns over MFM Chair of Trustees, Dr Daniel Olukoya, and his personal handling of serious incidents.

It accused Olukoya of illegally meeting a former employee of the charity alleged to have stolen between £150,000 and £190,000 of the Charity’s funds in Nigeria, then entered into an agreement with the individual without any consultation with other trustees.

“The commission has been informed by the trustees that the previous auditor of the charity and a former employee of the charity made fraudulent gift aid claims and retained well in excess of one million pounds of the funds received from HMRC. To date, the trustees advise the commission that £104,266.66 has been received from the former employee.

“The commission has been informed by the trustees that another employee of the charity stole between £150,000 and £190,000 of the charity’s funds. Although the alleged theft was discovered by the trustees in August 2015, the matter was not reported to the commission until 13 February 2018. To date, the trustees advise the commission that between £6,000 and £8,000 has been recovered by the charity and it continues to have suffered a significant financial loss.

“The position of Dr Olukoya raises serious concerns about the extent in which the other trustees of the charity are able to act independently in the best interests of the charity. As referred to a point 13 above, the commission has evidence that Dr Olukoya arranged to meet a former employee of the charity in Nigeria. That former employee is alleged to have stolen £150,000 to £190,000 of charity’s fund. Dr Olukoya then entered into an agreement with this individual (Without any consultation with the former trustees) that the stolen money would be repaid in instalments.

“To date, only £6000 to £8000 has been repaid despite the misappropriation having taken place in 2015. Dr Olukoya’s approach in this case and the extent to which he fetters the discretion of the other trustees casts doubt on the trustees capacity to seek restitution of substantial funds lost to the charity. Dr Olukoya’s behaviour in dealing with serious incidents on his own and without informing the commission means that the commission does not have confidence in his dual role of General Overseer and Chair of trustees,” part of the document read.

The UK charity regulator also questioned the governance of MFM, explaining that three trustees were being paid in breach of the charity’s governing document, and causes conflict when employment matters are discussed.

“The trustees have not demonstrated a willingness to comply with their statutory duty under s132 (1) of the Charities Act 2011 to submit accurate accounts by the due date or with their duty to co-operate with the inquiry. For example, at a meeting with the charity trustees on 22 August 2018, the trustees assured the commission that the accounts for the financial year ending 21 December 2017 (due 31 October 2018) would be submitted by the due date. Despite being issued with a number of reminders and providing further assurances to the commission, the accounts for 2017 were not submitted by the due date.

“An extension, until 31 December 2018, was granted to the trustees. The trustees again provided assurances that the 31 December 2018 deadline would be met and again failed to meet the deadline. The charity accountant indicated in January 2019 that the account would be submitted by mid-February 2019. Yet again, ‘this deadline was missed. The accounts for 2017 were received on 31 March 2019, 151 days late.

“These facts show a persistent pattern of non-compliance with legal obligations and suggest that the commission cannot rely on the accuracy of the accounts submitted to date. These failures can be considered to amount to mismatch or misconduct.

“The charity’s governing document gives the General Overseer and Chair of the Trustees, Dr Daniel K Olukoya, power to remove and appoint trustees. In 2018, three trustees resigned and he has exercised this power by appointing five trustees. However, three of these new trustees are remunerated and are employees of the charity. The commission understands that Dr. Olukoya has used his power of appointment to appoint remunerated trustees in breach of the provisions of the governing document.”

[url=https://saharareporters.com/2020/08/21/how-mfm-pastor-olukoya-connived-officials-who-stole-churchs-funds-united-kingdom-%E2%80%93charity]SaharaReporters[/url]

It accused Olukoya of illegally meeting a former employee of the charity alleged to have stolen between £150,000 and £190,000 of the Charity’s funds in Nigeria, then entered into an agreement with the individual without any consultation with other trustees.