Admin l Thursday, June 02, 2022
IKEJA, Lagos – Acclaimed social media billionaire, Ismaila Mustapha alias Mompha has settled for plea bargain in the N6 billion money laundering charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
This follows the decision of Justice Mojisola Dada of an Ikeja Special Offences Court will to fix hearing on the final report on plea bargain for June 10, 2022.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had, on Jan. 12, arraigned Mompha on 8-count charge of conspiracy and money laundering to the tune of over N6billion, along with his company, Ismalob Global Investment Limited.
The other charges include retention of proceeds of criminal conduct, use of property derived from unlawful act, possession of document containing false pretences and failure to disclose assets.
On Thursday, defence counsel, Mr Kolawole Salami, who held brief for Mr Gboyega Oyewole (SAN), informed the court that discussions were ongoing on plea bargain with EFCC. He prayed the court for extension of time for both parties to reach a conclusion.
“My lord, the matter was adjourned until today for report. We, on our part, have submitted a proposal to EFCC but we received its own proposal just yesterday. In furtherance of that, a meeting was held at prosecution’s office at 4.00 p.m. to discuss the terms of the proposal.
“We made a considerable progress at the meeting yesterday. We both agreed on one or two areas. We shall be praying for a short date to report, but if we are not able to reach a conclusion, we shall proceed to trial, my lord,” Salami said.
EFCC counsel, Mr S.I. Suleiman confirmed the position of defence, and also prayed for an adjournment.
“We confirm the position of defence, my lord. We reached out to defence team and the parties met at the prosecution’s office yesterday. We need a little fine-tuning, my lord, as we humbly ask for your indulgence to extend the date for the report,” Suleiman said.
The prosecution had informed the court on April 6 that both parties were in the process of plea bargain, and prayed the court for adequate time. The court had, on March 28, reduced the bail sum for the defendant, from N200 million to N25 million.
