Justice Mojisola Dada of the Ikeja Special Offences Court, Lagos on Wednesday, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of suspected internet fraudster and Lagos socialite, Ismaila Mustapha alias Mompha.
Justice Mojisola Dada, has revoked the N25 million bail earlier granted to Mompha, and issued a bench warrant for his arrest.
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said this in a statement on Wednesday.On January 12.
The judge, Mojisola Dada, revoked the bail following Mr Mustapha’s persistent absence from court proceedings.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had charged Mompha and his company, Ismalob Global Investment Limited, with N6bn money laundering.
The court had on March 28, ordered Mompha to submit his passport to court after his bail sum was reduced from N200m to N25m.
However, The prosecution told the court that the defendant used a new passport to travel from Ghana to Dubai thereby violating his bail terms.
The defendant has failed to appear in court on two scheduled dates for his trial.
The last time he failed to appear in court the accused told the court that he had contacted COVID-19, which the court found to be a lie after thorough investigation.
During proceedings on Wednesday, the judge stood down the matter for a while in expectation of the defendant’s arrival, but Mompha failed to appear in court for the resumption of proceedings.
The EFCC lead counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo said the court should issue an arrest warrant against him.
Reacting, the prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, said: “If I say that this development is not shocking, it will be an understatement.
“As of yesterday, the learned senior advocate discussed with me and assured me that we should continue today with this proceedings.
”Mr Oyedepo then informed the court that, “we’ve been able to file a plea bargain that he signed.”
Subsequently, Justice Dada revoked the defendant’s bail, ordered his arrest and adjourned the matter till June 30, 2022.
