Admin I Wednesday, July 03, 2024
LAGOS, Nigeria – A Domestic and Sexual Offences court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos has fixed October 8, 2024 for continuation of hearing in the N6 bullion fraud case brought against Ismail Mustapha alias Mompha by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Mompha has been on trial in absentia after jumping bail and has been declared wanted by the EFCC and Interpol.
Mompha alongside his company, Ismalob Global Investment Limited, was arraigned by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Lagos Zonal Command on January 12, 2022 on eight-count charges bordering on conspiracy to launder funds obtained through unlawful activity; retention of proceeds of criminal conduct; laundering of funds obtained through unlawful activity; failure to disclose assets and property; possession of documents containing false pretence and use of property derived from unlawful act.
One of the counts reads: “Ismaila Mustapha, Ahmadu Mohammed (at large) and Ismalob Global Investment Limited, sometime in 2016 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired amongst yourselves to conduct financial transactions to the tune of N5,998,884,653.18 ( Five Billion Nine Hundred and Ninety-eight Million Eight Hundred and Eighty-four Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty-three Naira Eighteen Kobo), with the intent of promoting the carrying on of specified unlawful activities to wit: obtaining by false pretence.
He pleaded “not guilty” to the charges when they were read to him.
On September 22, 2022, Justice Mojisola Dada ordered that the trial of Mompha would continue in absentia, after he jumped the bail.
At today’s proceedings, the six prosecution witness, PW6, Dectective Idi Musa, an EFCC operative while being led in evidence by the prepsecution counsel, S. I. Suleiman narrated how he knew the first and second defendants during the investigation. He explained how the Commission recived an intelligence information from Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI informing the Commission that first and second defendant were leading a Cybercrime in United States of America USA.
“sometimes in 2019, we received intelligence information from FBI, USA, which letter was addressed to the Commission informing the us that first and second defendant were leading a Cybercrime in USA activities knows as yahoo yahoo” said.
That, the first and second defendant, belongs to a syndicate operating between Nigeria and across border, Defrauding some user of Internet.
That, in the course of investigation, some letters were written to Zenith Bank requesting for account statement of second defendant and also to the other bank links to first defendant, which include Fidelity Bank, and the account statement received and was analysed.
“during the analysis, we discovered heavy flow of N30 Billion Naira flow through the account of first defendant (Mompha), in Fidelity bank, also about N5 Billion Naira in Zenith Bank account”.
He said: “letter were written to FBI, and Special Fraud Unit of the Commission regarding the defendant claiming he was into bureau de change operator looking at the volume of this transaction. Letter was also written to CBN and other relevant agencies”.
According to him, investigation revealed that first defendant did not reside in Nigeria and efforts to reached him or get him proved abortive.
“A letter was written to Nigeria Immigration Services on 16 October, 2019 to arrest the defendant anytime seeing him in the country”.
“on 18 October, 2019, first defendant got the information that commission is looking for him while he was in Nigeria, he quickly got to airport boarded a flight in other to escape out of the country for arrest.
The team got the information through the immigration at airport, Mompha has already enter the flight, they have to call him to come down and was arrested along with his properties and handed over to EFCC by immigration officers”. Said.
Giving further evidence, he told the court that; “in regards into his Fidelity bank account, over N30 billion Naira was discovered and he told us that he was running the bureau de change which investigation show that he was not, we concluded investigation in that aspect for offences bouldering on money laundering, operating BDC without licence, still standing trial before Justice Emma of Federal High Court, Ikoyi “, Said.
That by the report of FBI in USA, as well as an investigative report on Mompha’s iPhone, which the agency claimed was used for fraudulent practices, the FBI’s forensic operations revealed that Mompha’s iPhone was used to send account details to a United Arab Emirates telephone number he used to search for Swift Codes of a bank.
According to witness, he said “during the course of his arrest, all the properties recovered were registered with exhibits keeper in EFCC office and most of the properties were released to him on bond, except his Iphone 8 that was still with the Commission, but all those items are proceeds of crime because when he was giving assets declaration form to declared his assets, he did not include those items”.
The prosecution then tendered two documents, the statement of first defendant and asset declaration form urged the court to admit them into evidence which was admitted as exhibit p5 and p6.
Consequently, Justice Dada adjourned the case till Tuesday, October 8, 2024 for continuation of trial.
