Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have rearrested popular Nigerian socialite Ismaila Mustapha, better known as Mompha.
The anti-graft agency confirmed the development to Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Monday, May 15, 2023.
The EFCC counsel, Suleiman Suleiman, informed the court that the prosecution, in collaboration with its international partners, had secured the arrest of Mompha.
“The prosecution would like to bring to the knowledge of my lord that, in collaboration with our international partners, we have been able to apprehend the defendant. We plan to take him into custody and produce him before the court,” Suleiman said.
Justice Mojisola Dada, thereafter, adjourned the case until July 3 for the continuation of the trial.
In a statement, the commission mentioned that during a hearing on Mompha’s case on June 10, 2022, it informed the court that Mompha possessed another passport, aside from the one submitted to the court as part of his bail conditions.
The commission also informed the court that Mompha had used the same passport to travel from Ghana to Dubai on April 11, 2022, via Emirates Airlines, in violation of the court order.
Consequently, Justice Dada revoked the N25 million bail variation granted to Mompha and issued a bench warrant for his arrest due to his failure to appear in court.
Due to Mompha’s continued absence and the inability of both the prosecution and the defense to produce him in court, Justice Dada ordered on September 22, 2022, that the trial would continue in absentia.
On January 22, 2022, the EFCC had arraigned Mompha and his company, Ismalob Global Investment, on an eight-count charge of N6 billion laundering, to which he pleaded not guilty.
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