Court Discharges Mompha, Strikes Out N6bn Money Laundering Charge

An Ikeja Special Offences Court has discharged social media celebrity Ismaila Mustapha, popularly known as Mompha, and struck out the eight-count money laundering charge involving him and his company, Ismalob Global Investment Ltd.

Justice Mojisola Dada, in her judgment, ruled that the case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before the Ikeja court amounted to an abuse of court process because a similar charge was already pending before the Federal High Court in Lagos.

The judge held that the existence of the parallel proceedings raised the issue of forum shopping, a practice that has no place in the Nigerian legal system. She consequently struck out all the counts and discharged Mompha.

The EFCC had arraigned Mompha and Ismalob Global Investment Ltd on January 12, 2022, over allegations bordering on the laundering of about N6 billion.

The charges followed allegations that Mompha, alongside one Ahmadu Mohammed, who is said to be at large, and his company, conspired in 2016 to carry out financial transactions involving the funds with the intention of promoting unlawful activities, including obtaining money by false pretence.

The eight-count charge included conspiracy to launder proceeds of unlawful activity, retention of proceeds of criminal conduct, money laundering, failure to disclose assets and property, possession of documents containing false pretences and use of property allegedly derived from unlawful activities.

Mompha had pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to him.

During the trial, EFCC counsel, Mr Seleiman Suleiman, called six prosecution witnesses and tendered several documentary exhibits to support the allegations against the defendants.

The defence, however, did not call any witness. The proceedings continued in Mompha’s absence after he reportedly stopped attending court following the grant of bail. His international passport had been deposited as part of the bail conditions.

On April 28, the court closed the defence’s case after defence counsel, Mr Kolawole Salami, from the chambers of Mr Gboyega Oyewole (SAN), failed to produce witnesses.

Rather than call witnesses, the defence challenged the competence of the charge, arguing that the EFCC had improperly instituted the case before the Ikeja court while a similar matter remained pending at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Salami maintained that the decision to pursue parallel proceedings amounted to forum shopping and an abuse of the judicial process.

He urged the court to dismiss the charge and discharge Mompha, arguing that the EFCC could not maintain separate cases over substantially similar allegations before different courts.

The prosecution had presented its witnesses and documentary evidence before the defence raised the objection to the charge.

Justice Dada’s ruling brings the Ikeja proceedings to an end, with the court’s decision resting on the existence of the similar case before the Federal High Court and the resulting abuse of court process.

The discharge relates to the charge before the Ikeja Special Offences Court; it should not be taken as a determination of the separate proceedings pending before the Federal High Court.

About The Author