Ex-pastor’s not Ebenezer good after he stole church’s €125k
A FORMER pastor who stole more than €125,000 from his own church has been sentenced to six-anda-half years in prison.
Ebenezer Oduntan, an ex-pastor of the City of David Church in Naas, Co Kildare, was convicted of 87 charges of a range of theft and fraud offences following a three-week trial at the town’s Circuit Criminal Court last month.
The church, which has been based in Naas Enterprise Park since 2015, is a branch of the Nigeria-based Redeemed Christian Church of God.
Oduntan, 58, a married father-of-four of Curragh Grange, Newbridge, Co Kildare had pleaded his innocence in relation to a total of 54 separate charges but admitted his guilt on 19 counts of theft, five counts of deception and nine charges of providing false information to the Companies Registration Office midway through his trial.
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The naturalised Irish citizen, who works as a taxi driver, faced 73 separate counts of theft, five charges of deception and nine offences in breach of company law following an investigation by the Corporate Enforcement Authority.
Sentencing Oduntan yesterday, Judge Martina Baxter said: “He knew exactly what he was doing.”
During his trial, evidence was heard that Oduntan stole church funds including cheques up to €20,000 made payable to him personally.
Although he was allowed a monthly allowance from the church of €1,000, he also used church funds which were meant to help its parishioners for his wife’s business and to buy personal health insurance.
Judge Baxter sentenced Oduntan to seven years in prison on the deception charges, six-and-a-half years for the theft convictions and three-and-a-half years for providing false information to the CRO with all sentences to run concurrently.
She also suspended the final six months of all sentences with Oduntan’s time in prison backdated to when he was first placed in custody on March 13.