Court strikes out EFCC’s N6bn money laundering charge against Mompha

The Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja has struck out the N6 billion money laundering charge brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against social media personality Ismaila Mustapha, popularly known as Mompha, and his company, Ismalob Global Investment Limited.

Trial judge Mojisola Dada struck out the charge on Tuesday, ruling that the EFCC’s decision to prosecute the defendants while a related case was pending before the Federal High Court amounted to an abuse of court process.

The judge faulted the commission for pursuing the two cases simultaneously, describing the action as forum shopping.

She also questioned the inclusion of the eighth count in the charge, which she described as an afterthought intended to distinguish the Ikeja case from the one before the Federal High Court.

On the allegation that Mr Mompha failed to disclose some of his assets, Ms Dada said there was no intention to conceal the items recovered from him.

She noted that he had disclosed them in an extrajudicial statement on 22 October 2019, two days after submitting an asset declaration form.

The EFCC arraigned Mr Mompha and his company on 12 January 2022 on an eight-count bordering on conspiracy to launder proceeds of unlawful activities, retention of proceeds of crime, failure to disclose assets and possession of documents containing false pretences.

The commission alleged that Mr Mompha, Ahmadu Mohammed, who is said to be at large, and the company conspired in 2016 to conduct financial transactions worth N5,998,884,653.18 to promote unlawful activities, including obtaining money by false pretences.

The defendants pleaded not guilty.

During the trial, the prosecution, led by Suleiman Suleiman, called six witnesses and tendered documentary exhibits.

Mr Mompha stopped attending court after being granted bail and was represented by his lawyers, Kolawole Salami and Ademola Adefolaju.

The defence called no witnesses but urged the court to discharge the defendants, arguing that the prosecution was an abuse of court process.

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In November 2025, Ms Dada dismissed a no-case submission filed by Mr Mompha and his company, ruling that the EFCC had established a prima facie case requiring them to enter their defence.

The defendants subsequently challenged the ruling at the Court of Appeal.

The prosecution and defence adopted their final written addresses on 30 June, after which the judge reserved judgement.

The EFCC had also filed a separate money laundering case against Mr Mompha and his company before the Federal High Court in Lagos. In that case, the commission accused them of using company accounts to retain about N32.9 billion suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.

The charge was initially filed in 2019 and later amended.

The existence of the related proceedings before the Federal High Court was central to Ms Dada’s decision to strike out the case before her court.

Mr Mompha has faced several EFCC prosecutions since 2019 over allegations of laundering billions of naira for cybercrime syndicates and using companies to disguise illicit funds.