An operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the Land and Property Fraud Unit, Lagos, Mr. Idi Musa, has narrated to a Lagos Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja how suspected internet personality, Ismaila Mustapha, otherwise known as Mompha, and his company, Ismalob Global Investment Limited, were linked to advance fee fraud and other fraud-related offences.

Musa disclosed this in the ongoing trial of Mustapha (Mompha) who is being tried in absentia over alleged money laundering before Justice Mojisola Dada.

The defendant was allegedly running a Bureaux De Change (BDC) without a license and claimed ignorance of the law.

The EFCC had arraigned Mustapha on eight counts bordering on conspiracy to launder funds obtained through unlawful activity, retention of proceeds of criminal conduct, laundering of funds obtained through unlawful activity, failure to disclose assets and property, possession of documents containing false pretences, and use of property derived from an unlawful act.

However, when Musa, the sixth prosecution witness, was led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Mr. Suleiman Suleiman, he told the court that based on the combined efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the EFCC forensic analysis, the team he led discovered that N30 billion passed through the account of the first defendant, (Mompha) to a Fidelity Bank account.

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He said, “About N5 billion in Zenith Bank was linked to the second defendant, that is the first defendant’s company.”

Musa further told the court that during the investigation, the first defendant’s handset, an iPhone 8, was recovered from him at the time of his arrest on an Emirate flight when he was about to escape Nigeria.

He said the communications between the EFCC and FBI revealed the content of the defendant’s phone as fraudulent and illegal.

“Printed images found on the phone stated that a transfer SISIP of 92412.75 USD was transferred from the Intercontinental Diary facility.

“Response received from the FBI through a letter to the Chairman of EFCC and sent to the team, the company was contacted and two staff members of the company were interviewed, and they confirmed that on May 5, 2018, the email account of one of the staff of Select Milk Company, which is a subsidiary company of Diary facility, was hacked.”

He told the court that thereafter money was transferred to a fraudulent account, which he called ‘Business Email Compromise.’

He further explained that those interviewed claimed they never gave instructions for such a transfer but got a notification from a cybercrime fraudster.

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He, however, noted that the EFCC was able to recover $80,000 from the fraudsters and $12,412.75 was missing, adding that the fraudster had made away with that sum from the company.

He added that “more discovery was made in the account of the 2nd defendant’s Zenith Bank account,” stressing that a series of payments in that account appeared suspicious.

The EFCC operative also explained to the court that it was found out that one Olayinka Jimoh, a.k.a. Nappy Boy, was a beneficiary.

He added that Olayinka made confessional statements that he used to be involved in many internet frauds across the border.

He said when Olayinka was interrogated, he confessed he met the first defendant (Mompha) face-to-face in Dubai and that Mompha told him that he picks money for Yahoo Boys.

When asked to explain what he meant by pick money, Musa said ‘a picker is someone who belongs to a syndicate of internet fraudsters.

He said Olayinka told him that Mustapha provides him with an account where money is transferred into and the picker will take a percentage of the successful amount transferred.

He said, “Sometimes it’s 20 percent and if they were able to launder the money successfully, the picker will now pay them in Naira in Nigeria. And that indeed the 2nd defendant used the account to transfer the proceeds of crime.”

He added that investigations also revealed that the first defendant retained in the second defendant’s account unlawful proceeds of internet fraud, over N212 million that was given to Olayinka Jimoh, his relation, was received from the 1st defendant.

“The major creditor who paid money into the first defendant’s account was invited, Hassan Zein, a Lebanese businessman in Kano, Nigeria, who usually sourced dollars from his contact called Khalid for his business purchases.

“So 90 percent of the Naira equivalent paid by Hassan Zein was transferred to Olayinka Jimoh (Nappy) which Nappy told us he received, either through his personal or company’s account.

“All the items and properties recovered from the defendants were registered with our exhibit department, but all of the property except the phone was released to Mompha based on a court order.

“We believed they were reasonably acquired with proceeds of crime because when he was given the assets declaration form, he did not include them. The first defendant declared his assets, he did not include those assets.”

After listening to his testimony, Justice Dada subsequently adjourned the further trial to October 8, 2024.