Popular Nigerian Billionaire and Dubai based bureau de change operator, Mr Ismaila Mustapha who is known on social media as Mompha, has opened up about his ordeal in the hands of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), where he denied all allegations.
The renowned Social Media celebrity is opening up a few days of his release on bail by the anti-graft commission, and after spending almost 40 days in the EFCC custody on alleged involvement in internet-related fraud and money laundering.
Mompha who has taken down all his photos on his Instagram account since his arrest, made his first post narrating how he was arrested, and how being a Nigerian is now a crime. He started out by saying:
“In every situation, you find urself prayer is the only Key!! l was arrested on October 18, 2019, by Efcc, not Interpol or Fbi, No Interpol or Fbi is looking for me cos i don’t know where all these stories are coming from and the order of my arrest came from one of their head in Lagos because he has my travel details, which I asked what was my offence but he told me till u get to Lagos” Mompha said.
Mompha who was arrested on Friday 18, October 2019 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on his way to Dubai Emirate by officials of the EFCC, stating further, said:
“…when I got to Lagos on October 19, 2019, he showed me my bank statement and ask me about the funds which came to my account btw 2015 to 2017 which I defended all. To my greatest surprise, the next thing they did was to post that i was involved in internet fraud, BEC, cyber fraud and also 51 bank accounts which such never happened and it went viral worldwide what kind of country are we in nothing like investigation they tried to tarnish my image but God pass them, I was in their custody for 40-days which no evidence of fraud was found on me,” he added.
If you recall, Mompha while still in detention filed a fundamental rights enforcement lawsuit against EFCC, alleging unlawful detention and a violation of his rights.
In the suit he filed before the Lagos State High Court in Igbosere, Mompha urged the court to award N5m against the EFCC for detaining him beyond the constitutionally-allowed period without being charged to court.
He prayed the court to order the EFCC to either immediately charge him to a court or release him if it was not ready to charge him to court.
His lawyer Olumuyiwa Ajidagba had claimed that “The applicant (Mompha) has been subjected to physical, mental and psychological torture in the underground cell of the EFCC’s detention centre.”
He was released a few days ago, to which in his statement on 12th Thursday, December 2019, he said:
“After my lawyer sued Them for keeping me for Long on 22nd of November they gave me my charge sheet for 14 counts of money laundering 😳 on a Legit Business I did wit a mobile company in Nigeria Now i know its a crime to be a Nigerian, I was shocked when I came out to see people calling me different names like fraudster, Criminal, Yahoo boy which I have never defraud anyone or steal from anyone also no petition on me or anyone or company reported me, They did this to me because of Hate, Enviness, Jealousy” he added.
On his alleged Lebanese friend, he had this to say about the man:
“First I need to clear the air on something I met Hamza the Lebanese guy on October 24th 2019 at Efcc office for the first time in my life and also Kayode Philips i don’t know why they have to lie that he is my partner and my accomplice 😡 why all these lies just to bring me down But now am Stronger and wiser!!“.
In closing his message, he sent his wife, family and friends this special message:
“May Almighty Allah Help me in this Big situation (Amin). Now the whole world knows what they charge me for as the case is in court and my trial has begun!!! Special Thanks to my Strong wife and my family and my Real friends who stood by me during this trial of life ❤️❤️❤️”.
EFCC operatives had earlier released this statement detailing Mompha’s offence: “actionable cross border intelligence received from collaborative law enforcement agencies about his alleged involvement in the criminal activities further strengthened our suspicion”.
Ismaila allegedly perpetrates his fraudulent activities under the guise of being a Bureau de Change operator.
Investigations have also revealed that Ismaila Mustapha is only using the BDC business, he jointly owned with his siblings, as a decoy to launder his proceeds of crime.
However, the suspect #Mompha has volunteered useful information to the operatives and has admitted to being reasonably involved in the first two cases he was alleged to be involved.
At the point of arrest, five wristwatches with a total worth of over Twenty Million Naira (N20, 000, 000: 00) was recovered from him. The suspect will soon be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded”, the EFCC statement had said.