Due to the absence of his attorney, Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offenses Court in Ikeja, Lagos, on Monday, May 15, 2023, adjourned the next hearing in the alleged N6 billion fraud trial involving Ismaila Mustapha, also known as Mompha, until July 3, 2023.
Wilson Uwujaren, a spokesman for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, disclosed in a letter that our correspondent was able to obtain on Monday night.
Uwujaren pointed out that Mompha and his company, Ismalob Global Investment Limited, were charged with eight counts by the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Command on January 12, 2022. These counts included conspiracy to launder money obtained through criminal activity, keeping money obtained through criminal activity, laundering money obtained through criminal activity, failing to disclose assets and property, and possessing documents with false pretenses.
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According to one of the counts, “Ismaila Mustapha, Ahmadu Mohammed (at large), and Ismalob Global Investment Limited conspired among yourselves to conduct financial transactions to the tune of N5,998,884,653.18, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with the intent of promoting the carrying on of specified unlawful activities, namely: obtaining by false pretense,” sometime in 2016.
Mompha, however, entered a not guilty plea to the accusations.
The EFCC spokesperson added that as part of Mompha’s bail conditions, the EFCC had informed the court at the proceedings on June 10, 2022, that Mompha was in possession of a passport other than the one that had been submitted to the court and that he had used that passport to fly on Emirates Airlines from Ghana to Dubai on April 11, 2022, in violation of the court’s order.
Accordingly, Justice Dada had revoked the N25 million bail variation granted to him and had also issued a bench warrant for his arrest for failing to show up in court, according to Uwujaren.
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“He was also listed as wanted by the EFCC. Mompha has been evading the court since June 16, 2022, despite the EFCC’s ongoing efforts to have him apprehended and appear in court.
“Justice Dada had ordered on September 22, 2022 that the trial would proceed in absentia due to the defendant’s continued absence from court and the inability of the prosecution and defense to produce him in person.
“At Monday’s proceedings, the EFCC’s attorney, S.I. Suleiman, informed the court that the prosecution had successfully secured the defendant’s arrest through cooperation with its international partners.”
“We would like to bring to the knowledge of my lord that, in collaboration with our international partners, we have been able to apprehend him, and we plan to take him into custody and produce him before the court,” Suleiman said.
Additionally, he informed the judge that the defendant’s attorney “reached out to me seeking an adjournment that he would be absent today.”
For the trial to continue, Justice Dada postponed the matter until Monday, July 3, 2023.
