Popular businessman, Ismaila Mustapha aka Mompha, has described the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, as a “useless” and corrupt organisation.
Mompha’s outburst was in response to the EFCC’s recent report that a staggering N35 billion was discovered in his bank account.
A prosecution witness, Idi Musa and an investigator with the EFCC testified in court that the money was found in two bank accounts linked to Mompha.
Musa spoke in the ongoing trial of Mompha, who is facing money laundering charges alongside his company, Ismalob Global Investment Limited.
The anti-graft agency had arraigned Mompha on an eight-count charge, including conspiracy to launder funds obtained through unlawful activity, retention of proceeds of criminal conduct, and failure to disclose assets and property, among others.
Mompha’s trial has been ongoing since January 2022, with the recent testimony from the EFCC’s witness shedding new light on the case.
It was reported that “The sixth prosecution witness, PW6, Idi Musa, in the trial of Ismaila Mustapha, (a.k.a Mompha) an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, July 1, 2024, told Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos how the sum of N35bn was found in two bank accounts linked to the defendant.
The Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had, on January 12, 2022, arraigned Mompha alongside his company, Ismalob Global Investment Limited, on an eight-count charge bordering on conspiracy to launder funds obtained through unlawful activity, retention of proceeds of criminal conduct, laundering of funds obtained through unlawful activity, failure to disclose assets and property, possession of documents containing false pretences and use of property derive from unlawful act.”
Reposting the writeup, Mompha wrote on Instagram: “The most useless and corrupt Nigeria government agency @officialefcc ?”
Prove Your Claims Against Corrupt Officials, EFCC Dares Mompha
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has stated that its attention has been drawn to the “malicious and unsubstantiated” statement credited to Ismaila Mustapha popularly known as Mompha, where he reportedly levelled allegation of corruption against the operatives of the Commission.
In a release sighted by News360 Nigeria, the anti-graft agency’s Head of Media & Publicity, Dele Oyewale noted that the claim, coming from an accused in a criminal trial for conspiracy to launder funds obtained through unlawful activity, retention of proceeds of criminal activities, and failure to disclose assets and property, ought to be ignored as the rantings of a sinking defendant.
Oyewale remarked that the claims strike at the heart of the Commission’s most prized value-integrity and must be challenged.
“The Commission is alarmed that the accused will abandon the platform offered by the court to launch a media war against it through spurious claims.
“If he believes that raising phantom accusations against the Commission will scare it from diligently prosecuting his case, he is mistaken as no amount of scaremongering will deter the Commission from pursuing the case to a logical conclusion,” Oyewale said.
Consequently, he buttressed that while Mompha may just be a drowning man clutching at any straw owing to the overwhelming evidence of his involvement in the money laundering case, his unsubstantiated claims against the EFCC are an issue the Commission is taking seriously.
To this end, the Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede has directed that Mompha be invited to bring clasping evidence of any issue of corruption against any staff of the Commission. Besides, the socialite should also justify his labeling of the EFCC as a “useless agency” with evidential proof.”
The anti-grant agency’s spokesman, however, said, “As a responsible law enforcement agency, the EFCC would not sit back and allow libelous effusions against its reputation to go unchallenged.
“Mompha, to all intents and purposes, cannot be expected to paint the EFCC in bright colours owing to the professional ways officers of the Commission are handling his matter. The EFCC would not be distracted from playing its job by the antics of traducers like Mompha.”
Meanwhile, the anti-graft agency advised the public to ignore his ranting as Mompha should rather face his prosecution before a court of competent jurisdiction.
