Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja has fixed November 16 for the continuation of the trial of social media celebrity, Ismailia Mustapha, also known as, Mompha, who is facing money laundering allegations.
Mompha’s trial is to continue in absentia following the failure of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arrest him after he jumped bail.
The judge on June 22, 2022, revoked the defendant’s bail and ordered his arrest for failing to appear in court for his trial.
The EFCC had arraigned the defendant before the court on an eight-count charge of laundering the sum of N6.5 billion alongside his firm, Ismalob Global Investment Limited.
The anti-graft agency had accused the defendant of conspiracy to launder money obtained through unlawful activities, and laundering of money obtained through unlawful activities.
Mompha was also accused of retention of proceeds of criminal conduct, use of property derived from unlawful acts, possession of documents containing false pretenses, and failure to disclose assets.
At the resumed hearing of the matter on Wednesday, the EFCC counsel, A. O Mohammed informed the judge that the Commission had made a frantic effort to re-arrest the defendant but he is still at large.
Mohammed also stated that the anti-graft agency had written letters to its foreign counterparts to secure the presence of the defendant before the court but all these efforts had not yielded the desired result.
He said “my Lord, we will be asking for another date to enable the prosecution of the defendant on trial in absentia.
