London – UK court has closed a Nigerian-owned church, Salvation Proclaimer Ministries Limited, popularly known as SPAC Nation over financial exploitation.
Judge Burton of the UK High Court wound up the church in public interest on June 9, 2022.
The Official Receiver has been appointed as the liquidator of the company.
The court heard that SPAC Nation was incorporated in 2012, a charity set up to advance Christianity.
Much of its charitable work was based in London, working particularly with vulnerable people, youth, and offenders.
The church group initially received positive reviews until late 2019 when it began to face media scrutiny after former church members accused the senior personnel of the church of financial exploitation.
The Insolvency Service received complaints about SPAC Nation before instigating its own confidential enquiries into the church group’s activities.
Investigators interviewed one of the company’s Directors, Adedapo Olugbenga Adegboyega, who was also known as Dapo Adegboyega or Pastor Dapo.
During interviews, Adegboyega said the church group had over 2,000 members and 200 ordained ministers and pastors but failed to provide any supporting information.
Further enquiries revealed that SPAC Nation either failed to comply or only partially complied with statutory requirements, including providing data to support claimed donations, and accounting records in support of £1.87 million of expenditure.
According to the company’s financial statements, the two years to 31 December 2019 set out £610,000 of rent expenditure.
However, the company, did not have a single base of its own and would hire venues across London to hold services, at significant expense.
The court concluded that the church operated with a lack of transparency, filed suspicious or incorrect accounts, and was insolvent at the time of the hearing.
It was further recognised that the church provided inconsistent information to the Insolvency Service and Charity Commission and failed to deliver adequate accounting records
The church remains subject to a statutory inquiry by the Charity Commission, which is examining financial, governance, and safeguarding matters at the charity.
Edna Okhiria, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service said, “While SPAC Nation claimed it had noble intentions to support vulnerable and young people, our enquiries uncovered a different side of the charity.
There were clear concerns around how the church group managed its affairs and SPAC Nation failed to properly account for income received from donations and other expenditure.
“The court recognised the severity of SPAC Nation’s actions and this sends a strong message that proper records and accounts must be maintained, even if you’re a charity.”
