An Ikeja Special Offences Court will, on June 10, take a
final report on a plea bargain in the case of a N6 billion money laundering
charge against social media celebrity, Ismaila Mustapha (alias Mompha).
Justice Mojisola Dada gave the date after the defence and
prosecution counsel prayed for an extension of time, NAN reports.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had, on
January 12, arraigned Mustapha and his company, Ismalob Global Investment Ltd.,
on an eight-count charge.
The counts include conspiracy to launder money obtained
through unlawful activities and laundering of money obtained through unlawful
activities.
The other charges include retention of proceeds of criminal
conduct, use of property derived from an unlawful act, possession of a document
containing false pretenses, and failure to disclose assets.
On Thursday, defence counsel, Mr Kolawole Salami, who held
brief for Mr Gboyega Oyewole (SAN), informed the court that discussions were
ongoing on a plea bargain with EFCC.
He prayed to the court for an extension of time for both
parties to reach a conclusion.
“My lord, the matter was adjourned until today for a report.
“We, on our part, have submitted a proposal to EFCC, but we
received its own proposal just yesterday.
“In furtherance of that, a meeting was held at the
prosecution’s office at 4.00 p.m. to discuss the terms of the proposal.
“We made considerable progress at the meeting yesterday. We
both agreed on one or two areas.
“We shall be praying for a short date to report, but if we
are not able to reach a conclusion, we shall proceed to trial, my lord,” Salami
said.
EFCC counsel, Mr S.I. Suleiman confirmed the position of the
defence and also prayed for an adjournment.
“We confirm the position of defence, my lord.
“We reached out to the defence team, and the parties met at
the prosecution’s office yesterday.
“We need a little fine-tuning, my lord, as we humbly ask for
your indulgence to extend the date for the report,” Suleiman said.
The prosecution had informed the court on April 6 that both
parties were in the process of a plea bargain and prayed to the court for
adequate time.
The court had, on March 28, reduced the bail sum for the
defendant from N200 million to N25 million.
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