Officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), were yesterday in Owerri, to arrest the former chairman and Director-General of the Imo State Board of Internal Revenue (BIR) Pastor Mrs Henrietta Jacobs, but missed her by the whiskers. Their visit to Imo State was in connection with series of petitions and allegations of fraud leveled against the self professed Pastor of New Wave Assembly Church, Owerri.
After laying ambush at both the residence and New Wave Assembly Church complexes at Ikenegbu Layout and Egbu Road, Owerri without success, the anti graft officials who stormed Imo State from the Enugu zonal office, were informed that like Dr. (Mrs) Diezani Madueke, Henrietta Jacobs, has already absconded and disappeared into oblivion or thin air.
Sources close to her neighbours, who volunteered useful information to weekend Watchdog, said Mrs Jacobs who masquerades as General Overseer of a new generation church, New Wave Assembly has immediately after handing over to Chief Onwunali at the Okigwe Road BIR office, fled to the USA.
Her present ordeal stems from curious revelations about her gross misconducts and unlawful activities at the Imo BIR. She was alleged to be instrumental to the reckless opening of several fictitious bank accounts through which the internal resources of Imo State were massively siphoned. Only last week, the eagle eyed Dr. Abraham Nwankwo Team set up by Governor Emeka Ihedioha, discovered that between Rochas Okorocha and Henrietta Jacobs, were 260 different bank accounts.
Her chairmanship of Imo BIR allegedly saw to the wanton diversion of IGR into private pockets and consultancy which reduced monthly earning drastically to a little above or less than N500 million at a time Ebonyi State was reporting or returning N1.5billion monthly IGR. She was known to have diverted huge funds using touts, who she recruited as Pastors while sacking experienced and knowledgeable revenue collectors even at the LGA level. She had also perfected the ceding of all the motor parks in Imo State to the Okorochas, Obinalis and Ololo, while the market which is usually the revenue base of the council areas, were hijacked by her team of revenue wolves.
This is despite her immediate elder sister, Nonye Rajis who is a well know close confidant of Rochas Okorocha, becoming Ambassador to Singapore for four years.
According to an insider source,the only option left for the EFCC officials like presently obtained with Mrs Diezani Madueke who is also on the run is to proceed with forfeiture of Jacobs investments, to the Federal government once they are certified to be products of proceeds of illegal and fraudulent transactions.
