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U.S. probes two Nigerian pastors alleges Daily Sun news papers !

Posted by jackie webLondonGirl on February 22, 2010 at 2:10pm
U.S. probes two Nigerian pastors
By Ike Nnamdi, The Sun reporter, New York




There was no mention of any naija pastor .Our investigations revealed this was a complete rehash of the news by the Daily Sun coming in the wake of Benny hinns Divorce

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Two of Nigeria’s most popular televangelists are among six high profile preachers under investigation by American authorities for making false miracle claims and allegedly spending church funds without approval.

The probe is headed by Sen. Charles Grassley, the Iowa Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, over whether the pastors complied with IRS rules for nonprofit’s. The tax exempt non - profits are not allowed to spend funds for non - religious purposes but Grassely has accused the pastors of dipping their hands in church funds to maintain lavish life styles, including luxury private jets and summer homes.

The Nigerian pastor include a prosperity preacher whose members include some serving and former heads of state and another with high profile government officials as members. He recently bought a personal jet. Senate sources said the probe was launched when members of their American branches petitioned the authorities over the use of church funds by the men of God.

The investigation may have claimed its first victim as the wife of televangelist Benny Hinn filed for divorce from the high-profile pastor, whose reputation as an advocate of prosperity gospel has attracted millions of followers and criticism from lawmakers and watchdog groups over his lavish lifestyle. Suzanne Hinn filed the papers in Orange County Florida Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences, after more than 30 years of marriage.

The papers noted the two separated on January 26 and that Hinn has been living in Dana Point, a wealthy coastal community in southern Orange County. “Pastor Benny Hinn and his immediate family were shocked and saddened to learn of this news without any previous notice,” Benny Hinn Ministries said in a statement. “Although Pastor Hinn has faithfully endeavored to bring healing to their relationship, those efforts failed and were met with the petition for divorce that was filed without notice,” the statement said.

Hinn is one of the best known advocates of the prosperity gospel, which teaches that Christians who are right with God will be rewarded with wealth and health in this lifetime. His TV broadcasts on the Trinity Broadcast Network, a Pentecostal broadcasting juggernaut, and other TV networks are seen by millions of people around the world nearly everyday. He travels the globe in his ministry’s plane, named Dove One, holding events he calls “Miracle Crusades” that include spiritual healings.

Hinn has never fully publicly disclosed how he spends the money he raises, but his vast ministry is believed to be a multimillion-dollar operation. There was no mention of finances in the court filing, which listed three recent Southern California addresses for the family. Over the years, Hinn has been the target of intense criticism from fellow Christians and watchdog groups who call his teachings false and accuse him of raising money only to enrich himself.
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Pressure Mounts on Dangote to resign as SEC probes Afribank Registrars

Posted by 9jabook.com on March 30, 2009 at 9:36pm
The rivalry between Nigeria`s richest duo, Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola has taken a turn for the worse with pressure mounting on Dangote to resign his post as vice chairman of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) over perceived conflict of interests in the unfolding financial saga that has seen the SEC suspend and fined Nova Finances Securities owned by Eugene Anenih, a Dangote proxy. The SEC suspended Nova Finance Securities last Thursday March 26, 2009 after investigations uncovered unethical practices. The SEC investigation, Huhuonline learnt, triggered off another investigation into Afribank Registrars; accused of aiding and abetting the unethical practices by Nova Finance Securities. Sources within Afribank Registrars - who are registrar to AP plc - told Huhuonline that the SEC'S complaint rests on the failure of Afribank Registrars' internal control mechanism to detect or prevent the dubious transactions by Nova Finance Securities and that its records were falsified to cover up the illegal transactions. Aliko Dangote The suspension and fine of Nova Finances & Securities may not be evidence of the guilt of Afribank Registrars but it provides the clearest evidence of the complicity of the group of Dangote consortium partners in masterminding the fraud. After several months of denial, the suspension of Nova Finances is a very sad illustration of the way business is done in Nigeria and the mindless audacity of some people in authority like Dangote who remains vice-president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. (NSE) As pressure continues to mount, the race to succeed the embattled Dangote by those who believe-or perhaps know-that he be will axed, should he fail to resign, may have begun in earnest. And a few names have been touted. But, curiously, Dangote is yet to sever all his ties to Nova. CSCS document made available to Huhuonline revealed that during the period under review, Dangote and Nova with the assistance of Afribank Registrars fraudulently swapped a total volume of five hundred thousand units of irredeemable non-cumulative convertible preference shares in ten different transactions, which were admitted to the daily official lost of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The ensuing panic and loss of share value created a scary scenario for AP investors. The resultant effect was shareholders lost of confidence in AP shares, leading to a massive exodus of existing shareholders, who hurriedly offloaded their AP shares and precipitating a sharp decline in its price. Some of the former AP investors, who spoke to Huhuonline, said “they just wanted to get out of the investment, and had no regard for the price at which they sold”. Despite the fine and suspension of Nova Finance Securities, and the SEC’s threat to sanction operators caught on unethical practices especially, on insider and cross-share trading, it appears the warning is not being taken seriously as practitioners are engaged in premium price war in an attempt to edge out competitors. “Nova and Aliko were just crossing shares between themselves, there were no money exchanged; rather they were even loosing money by paying commissions for the swaps”, the chief executive of an investment firm told Huhuonline, adding: “the practice of cross-share trading is a common tactic within the industry. The SEC should not merely issue threats and small fines; it has the facts and profiles of all operators to ban or impose huge sanctions on those companies that are involved in these unorthodox practices but it has failed to do so.” The growing calls for his resignation from the NSE came hard on the heels of another unsavory development in the unfolding saga. The latest salvo involves a text message, currently making the rounds, and said to have been originated by Otedola. The text message, featuring the names of some married women who had allegedly engaged in extra-marital affairs with Dangote, was described by one source as Dangote’s “black box”. It contains information whose potential impact might cause considerable embarrassment to Dangote and some of his political allies, a source told Huhuonline. Dangote’s proxies have accused Otedola of employing blackmail and other crude underhand tactics to punch below the belt. But Otedola’s supporters have denied any involvement.
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