Bishop David Oyedepo, the founder and general overseer of Living Faith Church Worldwide, better known as Winners’ Chapel International, is listed among the Nigerians who established offshore businesses in the British Virgin Islands. Nigeria’s PREMIUM TIMES is a part of the global Pandora Papers project, which is led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
As part of the initiative, 600 journalists from 150 news organizations worldwide sorted and analyzed about 12 million private documents, located and spoke with sources, and added context using documents and public data. Some offshore services organizations worldwide that created shell corporations and other offshore entities for their clients—many of whom were powerful politicians, businesspeople, and criminals looking to hide their financial activities—were the source of the leaked materials.
Other notable Nigerians exposed in the tax haven scan included former Anambra State Governor and PDP Vice Presidential Candidate Peter Obi, Kebbi State Governor Atiku Bagudu, and Osun State Governor Gboyega Oyetola. The investigation claims that Oyedepo hired London-based agent Business Centrum Limited in August 2007 to assist him in establishing a business for himself and his close relatives in the notorious tax haven. Trident Trust Group, one of the most infamous suppliers of offshore corporate and financial services and one of the top secrecy enablers in the world, was later subcontracted by Business Centrum.
On August 20, 2007, Zadok Investments Limited was established with 50,000 common shares, each worth $1.00. All of Mr. Oyedepo’s family members are listed as shareholders, even though he and his two sons, Isaac and David (Junior), are the company’s directors. With 30% of the shares each, Mr. Oyedepo and his spouse, Faith, are the biggest stockholders. Ten percent of the shares are owned by his children, Isaac, who is the resident pastor of the church’s branch in Maryland, USA, and David (junior), who was appointed resident pastor of the church’s headquarters, known as Faith Tabernacle, in 2016.
The cleric’s two daughters, Love and Joy, were also each awarded 10% of the company. The precise operations and transactions that the offshore firm was established to carry out were not disclosed in the documents. But according to the article, the organization seems to be the family’s financial vehicle, where their fortune is kept for offshore administration.
The precise operations and transactions that the offshore firm was established to carry out were not disclosed in the documents. The report stated, in part, that the entity “seems to be the family’s investment vehicle under which the family’s wealth is warehoused for offshore management.”