KILDARE, IRELAND – A former senior pastor within the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) network, who systematically plundered more than €125,000 from his own congregation, has seen his prison sentence reduced by one year following a successful appeal.
Ebenezer Oduntan (60), the former leader of the City of David Church in Co. Kildare—a branch of the prominent Nigerian-based Pentecostal mission—was originally sentenced to six and a half years in prison in 2024. However, the Court of Appeal in Dublin ruled that the original “headline” sentence was “somewhat too high.”
A Breach of Sacred Trust
The court heard how Oduntan exploited his position of “high regard” within the RCCG community to bypass financial oversight. Between 2012 and 2018, while serving as the spiritual head of the Kildare branch, Oduntan funneled funds into his personal accounts that were five times his declared income.
The sophisticated fraud involved:
- €75,000 stolen through the misuse of blank cheques.
- €52,000 diverted through a Credit Union account.
- 87 counts of theft, fraud, and providing false information to the Companies Registration Office (CRO).
During his trial at Naas Circuit Criminal Court, it was revealed that the church—which holds charitable status—operated with a “total absence” of standard financial controls, largely because the congregation placed such immense trust in Oduntan as their spiritual leader.
The Appeal Ruling
Despite the gravity of the “sacred trust” breached within the RCCG community, Mr. Justice Alexander Owens of the Court of Appeal adjusted the sentence. While the judge described the decision as “marginal,” he quashed the original term, substituting it with a six-year sentence, with the final six months suspended.
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The court noted that while Oduntan expressed “a certain amount of remorse,” he has still not accepted the jury’s guilty verdict. Furthermore:
- No restitution has been made to the defrauded RCCG congregation or Revenue.
- The State was forced to prove the case in a lengthy three-week trial as Oduntan did not offer a guilty plea.
- The defendant has been “ostracised” by the church community since the scandal broke.
The new sentence aims to encourage “continued rehabilitation,” though the court emphasized that Oduntan used his status as a man of God to facilitate his crimes.
