MFM G.O., Pastor Daniel Olukoya, Faces Allegation of Illegal Importation of Goods in US Court
The head of one of Nigeria’s foremost Pentecostal churches, Pastor Daniel Olukoya, of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), will, this October, appear in a US Court over a petition filed by some former pastors and members accusing the General Overseer of engaging in fraudulent activities in the US, including evasion of duties owed to US authorities. The petitioners were riled when Olukoya’s MFM took them to court over monetary and property disputes. According to online reports, the church, in an action filed in the Circuit Court for Prince Georges’ County of Maryland, U.S.A, is seeking declaratory judgment and damages against Pastors Lawrence Adetunji, Ronke Adetunji, and 11 former members of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, Bowie, Maryland. Also joined in the suit is Christ the Truth Ministry, the successor-church of MFM Bowie. “At issue are real property described as 5506 and 5503 Church Road in Bowie, Maryland, which were acquired by MFM Bowie in 2001 and 2004 respectively. Also in contention are funds for the MFM building in Bowie. MFM International (Lagos) claims that the property acquired with the contributions and offerings of the members of MFM in Bowie, without assistance of any form from Mr. Olukoya or MFM headquarters, are property of MFM headquarters by way of trust.” The plaintiffs claim further that when Pastor Adetunji and most members of MFM in Bowie decided not to associate further with the denomination, Pastor Adetunji was under an obligation to hand over the properties and funds to MFM headquarters. In their response, the defendants allege that they decided to sever their relationship with MFM and its leadership because of the illegal and fraudulent activities of MFM International, Lagos. They allege 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 U.S; and that the plaintiffs carried out these illegal activities for many years. Olukoya was accused of seeing to the shipment of prayer books (specifically, “70 Days Prayer & Fasting” and “Pray Your Way Into [current year]” 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 for the books. The pastors were then instructed to remit the earnings of their sales to MFM International. The defendants disclosed that, although this practice had been going on for many years, on or about 2013, MFM International started shipping their books directly to U.S. Customs in Baltimore, along with the cover letter stating that the books were “donations”. The Defendants asserted that they did not become aware of the illegal practice until 2015. They stated further that when they became aware, and having no powers over MFM and its leadership “to influence or change their behaviour, they had to sever all ties in order to curtail their (defendants’) unwitting participation in plaintiffs’ illegal actions. The defendants also argued that MFM International could not lay claim to the