COURT DISMISSES MOMPHA’S NO-CASE SUBMISSION, ORDERS HIM TO OPEN DEFENCE IN N6BN MONEY LAUNDERING TRIAL

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By Aishat Momoh. O.

Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos State Special Offences Court, sitting in Ikeja, has dismissed the no-case submission filed by social media celebrity Ismaila Mustapha, popularly known as Mompha, in his ongoing ₦6 billion money laundering trial.

In a ruling delivered on Tuesday, the court held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had successfully established a prima facie case against Mompha and his company, Ismalob Global Investment Limited, requiring them to open their defence.

The EFCC had on January 12, 2022, arraigned Mompha alongside his company on an eight-count charge bordering on conspiracy to launder funds obtained through unlawful activity, retention of proceeds of criminal conduct, failure to disclose assets, and possession of documents containing false pretences, among other offences.

One of the counts alleged that Mompha, alongside a co-conspirator Ahmadu Mohammed (still at large), and his company, conspired in 2016 to conduct financial transactions worth ₦5,998,884,653.18 (Five Billion, Nine Hundred and Ninety-Eight Million, Eight Hundred and Eighty-Four Thousand, Six Hundred and Fifty-Three Naira, Eighteen Kobo) with the intent to promote unlawful activities, specifically obtaining money by false pretence.

Mompha had pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

During the trial, prosecution counsel S.I. Suleiman called five witnesses before closing the case. In response, the defence counsel, Kolawole Salami, filed a no-case submission, arguing that the prosecution had failed to produce evidence directly linking his client to the alleged crimes.

However, in her ruling, Justice Dada disagreed with the defence, holding that the prosecution had presented sufficient evidence to warrant the defendants entering a defence.

“The court finds that a prima facie case has been established against the defendants,” the judge ruled, before dismissing the no-case submission.

The case was thereafter adjourned to January 27 and 28, 2026, for the commencement of the defence.