Witness’ Absence Stalls Mompha’s Trial For N6bn Fraud

Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja has adjourned the trial of social media celebrity, Ismailia Mustapha, also known as, Mompha, over fraud allegations, due to the absence of a prosecution witness.

The counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs Bilikisu Buhari-Bala, informed the judge that the witness she intended to present to the court was out of jurisdiction.

Mompha, who is being tried in absentia after he jumped bail, is standing trial before the court over an alleged N6.5 billion money laundering case.

The anti-graft agency had alleged that the defendant retained the funds, transferred the funds to a suspect Olayinka Jimoh aka Nappy Boy, and unlawfully transferred funds of a record label, among others.

The following sums were listed by the anti-graft agency to have been laundered by the defendant including N5,998,884,653.18, N32 million, N120 million and N15,960,000, totalling over N6.5 billion.

The commission further alleged that Mompha concealed his interest in inexpensive wristwatches and other movable assets valued at over N70 million.

The defendant, who had been declared wanted by the court, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge before he stopped attending his trial in 2022.

At the resumed hearing of the matter yesterday, Mrs Buhari-Bala told the court that her witness, an employee of the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), is undergoing a three-month workshop abroad, hence, he was unable to be in court on Wednesday.

She then urged the judge to allow the unnamed witness to testify virtually in order not to further delay the proceedings.

This request was opposed to by the defence lawyer, Kolawole Salami, who stated that the prosecution should have applied for virtual proceedings since September, when the matter came up last.

After listening to the lawyers, Justice Dada, agreed with the defence team and also rejected taking evidence from the witness virtually.

She adjourned the matter to December 19 for the continuation of the trial.