The Lagos State Special Offences Court, Ikeja Division, has discharged social media personality Ismaila Mustapha, aka Mompha, by striking out eight money-laundering charges the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission filed against him.
The judge, Mojisola Dada, in her ruling on Tuesday, held that pursuing the charges at the Ikeja court, despite a related case before the Federal High Court, Lagos Division, amounted to an abuse of court process and an instance of forum shopping.
The EFCC accused Mompha, his company, Ismalob Global Investment Limited, and Ahmadu Mohammed, said to be at large, of conspiring in 2016 to conduct financial transactions worth about N6 billion to facilitate unlawful activities, including obtaining money by false pretences.
The charges also included conspiracy to launder proceeds of unlawful activities, retention of proceeds of crime, failure to disclose assets, and possession of documents containing false pretences, among other offences.
Mompha and his company pleaded not guilty when they were arraigned on January 12, 2022.
During the trial, the prosecution, led by Suleiman Suleiman, called six witnesses and tendered several documentary exhibits to support its case.
Mompha was granted bail on the condition that he deposited his international passport but subsequently stopped appearing in court, leading to the continuation of his trial in absentia.
On April 28, 2026, the court closed the defence’s case after the defence counsel, Mr Kolawole Salami and Mr Ademola Adefolaju, failed to produce any witness.
At the adoption of final written addresses on June 30, Salami urged the court to discharge and acquit the defendants, arguing that the prosecution had failed to establish the allegations against them. The prosecution, however, maintained that its evidence was sufficient to secure their conviction.
The judge faulted the eighth count, describing it as an afterthought introduced to distinguish the Ikeja proceedings from the earlier case. She further held that Mompha had disclosed the assets allegedly concealed in an extrajudicial statement.
The judge consequently struck out all eight counts and discharged Mompha and his company, ruling that the prosecution amounted to an abuse of court process and forum shopping because of the related proceedings pending before the Federal High Court, Lagos Division.