An Ikeja Special Offences Court has discharged social media character Ismaila Mustapha, popularly often known as Mompha, and struck out all eight counts of alleged money laundering involving about N6 billion filed in opposition to him.
Delivering her ruling on Tuesday, Justice Mojisola Dada held that the continued prosecution of the case amounted to an abuse of court docket course of, noting {that a} related matter was already pending earlier than the Federal High Court in Lagos.
The decide described the EFCC’s determination to pursue the instances in separate courts as discussion board procuring and consequently struck out all eight charges in opposition to Mompha, discharging him.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had arraigned Mompha and his firm, Ismalob Global Investment Limited, on January 12, 2022, over allegations bordering on money laundering and different monetary crimes.
He was tried in absentia on allegations of conspiracy to launder funds suspected to have been generated by way of illegal actions, retaining and laundering proceeds of crime, failure to declare belongings, possessing paperwork containing false pretences and utilizing properties allegedly derived from unlawful actions.
Mompha had pleaded not responsible to the charges.
The EFCC alleged that he, alongside one Ahmadu Mohammed, who’s presently at giant, and Ismalob Global Investment Limited, conspired in 2016 to hold out monetary transactions valued at N6 billion to facilitate illegal actions, together with acquiring money by false pretences.
During the trial, the prosecution, led by Suleiman Suleiman, introduced six witnesses and tendered a number of documentary reveals to determine its allegations in opposition to the defendants.
However, the defence didn’t name any witness in response to the prosecution’s proof.
Mompha was reportedly admitted to bail on the situation that he surrendered his worldwide passport however subsequently stopped attending court docket proceedings.
On April 28, the court docket had closed the defence’s case after Mompha’s lawyer, Kolawole Salami, of Gboyega Oyewole, SAN’s legislation agency, failed to supply witnesses.
Tuesday’s determination successfully ends the proceedings in opposition to Mompha earlier than the Ikeja Special Offences Court. However, the decide’s ruling was primarily based on the existence of an analogous case pending earlier than the Federal High Court in Lagos.
