The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, today Wednesday March 4th, re-arraigned Ismaila Mustapha (aka Mompha), before Justice Mohammed Liman of a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, for alleged N32.9billion fraud.
Mompha was first arraigned alongside his company, Ismalob Ventures on November 25th 2019 on a 14-count charge bordering on fraud, money laundering and running a foreign exchange business without the authorisation of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
At the resumed hearing of his case today, counsel to the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo, informed the court of a second amended charge against Mompha and urged the court to allow a fresh plea by the defendant. The amended 22 count charges was read over to the defendant and he pleaded not guilty.
After his plea, the defence counsel, Gboyega Oyewole SAN, urged the court to grant a short adjournment to enable him study the new charge.
He told the court that he had only seen the new charge few minutes ago before the court commenced sitting and consequently urged the court to allow him study same.
The presiding judge, Justice Mohammed Liman, ordered that the defendant’s bail of N100 million to continue and then adjourned the case until March 18 for continuation of trial.
