Israel Ogundipe, a well-known prophet of the Celestial Church of Christ, has disclosed how a bank extended a N1 billion loan offer to him.
The founder of Genesis Global Ministry in Lagos, Ogundipe, said he was given the loan offer with the intention of using it to grow his ministry and reach more members globally.
He made this known while speaking on a show of popular Nigerian On-Air Personality, Ifedayo Olarinde, popularly known as Daddy Freeze on Tuesday.
Additionally, he said that the bank, which he would not identify, showed him information about churches that had obtained loans of a similar nature.
According to the list Ogundipe was presented with, some churches took loans totalling between N3 billion and N4 billion.
“A bank called me two months ago and said they wish to loan me N1 billion. They offered me the loan and I asked them what for. They replied that they know churches are getting it (loan) and I would be able to pay it back because they know my church is big.
“Then I asked them how they want me to be paying back, and they said when we are doing revivals, crusades, we’ll be paying back monthly.
“And they mentioned some churches who got loans from them ranging from N3 billion to N4 billion. And I asked them how they expected me to pay back such an amount and they said those that collect such loans, that’s why they would never stop doing conferences, crusades, and revivals, and from there, they would get money to pay back,” the pastor said.
In 2020, Ogundipe was found guilty and given a prison sentence for scamming a London-based architect and using her property for personal use.
The pastor was charged with seven-count, including theft, forgery, unlawful conversion of property, and deceitfully obtaining N14 million and £12,000 from the victim between 2002 and 2005.
