Pastor Jamiu Ishola Kolawole, a top pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, has been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for stealing the sum of N9m from his tenant, Dr. Emeka Ugwunze, in Lagos.
The 60-year-old Kolawole was sentenced on Tuesday by Magistrate O.A. Adedayo of the Ogba Magistrates court.
The convict was the resident pastor of the RCCG, Ikosi Paris, Ketu District, before he committed the fraud.
His journey to prison started in 2016, after he approached the victim, Dr. Ugwunze and defrauded him of the said amount of money under false pretense.
The fraud took place at his two-storey building in Gbagada, where the victim was his tenant.
The parties negotiated for the house for N20m and the victim paid him N9m to effect the balance at an agreed period.
He convinced the victim that he wanted to sell the house to him because he had assisted him in the past.
And to prove to Ugwunze how serious he was, he handed him all the house documents except for the deed of agreement which he promised to process upon receipt of the full payment.
However, Kolawole disappeared after he obtained the initial payment.
The matter was reported to the police and he was arrested, then dragged to court.
The court found him guilty and sentenced him to 18 months imprisonment.
