Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, has disclosed that the commission investigated Jerry Eze for six months over suspected money laundering before clearing him of wrongdoing.
Olukoyede made the revelation on Wednesday while speaking at the Jerry Eze Foundation Business Grant Award Ceremony in Abuja, where he explained that the probe was triggered by intelligence reports and petitions received by the commission.
According to him, investigators became interested after observing significant inflows of foreign currencies into the pastor’s domiciliary account.
“We work by intelligence, we work by petitions,” he said, explaining that the transactions initially raised red flags.
He described seeing deposits in dollars and pounds coming from multiple countries, including Colombia, the United States, Sri Lanka, and Togo, prompting the commission to open an investigation.
“Dollars, pounds were dropping in like raindrops,” he said.
Olukoyede said the development led the commission to scrutinize the activities of the founder of Streams of Joy International, with investigators reviewing records as part of a detailed probe.
“So they said this one pastor of Streams of Joy, go and investigate him. So we went to the investigation. We combed the books,” he stated.
According to him, after preliminary findings were compiled, Pastor Jerry Eze was invited to be questioned. However, he said by the time the cleric came in, the commission had already completed its work and found no evidence of wrongdoing.
He said the meeting turned into a moment of commendation rather than interrogation.
“I called you here to commend you,” Olukoyede said, recounting what he told the pastor.
The revelation drew applause from attendees at the event, where Jerry Eze was present.
Beyond disclosing the investigation, the EFCC chairman said the commission has a duty not only to pursue financial crimes but also to acknowledge individuals found to have acted with integrity after scrutiny.
He added, however, that the agency would continue monitoring suspicious financial activity where necessary, stressing that prevention remains central to its anti-corruption mandate.
Olukoyede also used the occasion to express concern over the involvement of some religious leaders in fraudulent activities, noting that the commission has investigated and secured convictions against some clerics in the past.
He urged religious institutions to uphold accountability and integrity, saying places of worship should not become shields for illicit conduct.
The remarks have drawn attention because they offer a rare public account of a high-profile investigation that ended in exoneration, while also shedding light on how the commission initiates intelligence-driven probes.
𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐄𝐅𝐂𝐂 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐄𝐳𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐬 — 𝐎𝐥𝐮𝐤𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝𝐞
Credit: X | ChannetsTv
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