A MANSION-DWELLING pastor has today avoided bankruptcy after getting deprived worshippers to pay his £60,000 tax bill.
Alex Omokudu, 53, was slapped with a bankruptcy order by HM Revenue and Customs over his unpaid taxes.
Omokudu, who owns a lavish £2million nine-bedroom mansion in Hornchurch, Essex, is the founder and lead pastor of controversial church Victorious Pentecostal Assembly.
In a hearing at the High Court, Omokudu's lawyer confirmed the church in Barking, east London, will pay his £59,703 debt and £2,775 receivers' costs in full.
The bankruptcy order was dismissed by the court on Friday morning after HMRC confirmed they had received the money.
Omokudu – who is referred to as “Daddy” by his flock – today confirmed the money used to bail him out came from donations.
When asked by Sun Online why he didn’t pay the bill himself, he said: “I don’t have that kind of money.
“The money came from donations. I’m pleased it has been resolved.”
His solicitor Charles Ete claimed that he had no choice but to use donations as Omokudu owns VPA's headquarters and if made bankrupt, the church could become homeless.
Mr Ete said: “The position is that the members and trustees of the church agreed to donate and repay the money.
“If they hadn’t, we may have lost the lease on the building, so the church agreed to lend him the money.”
Deputy Judge Catherine Addy QC said today: “The case is dismissed with the respondent to pay costs subject to a detailed assessment if not agreed.”
In January, Sun Online revealed how the church - based in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Britain - takes more than £1million-a-year in donations from its worshippers.
Latest full accounts show Omokudu receives £102,000-a-year in rent for the church's headquarters - a converted office block, which he purchased for £1million.
Omokudu tells his followers he is "heavily anointed with healing powers from God".
Sun Online attended services where followers heard testimonies from people claiming to have been cured of deadly diseases after praying to "the God of VPA".
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The congregation were then handed donation forms after being told: "Give your money to God to get ahead of others."
The church also operates in run-down parts of Birmingham, Manchester, Bradford and Luton and attracts thousands of worshippers every week.
VPA has twice been fined by Ofcom after making claims the church has cured people of cancer and HIV on its television channel, Believe TV.
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