Ismaila Mustapha widely known as Mompha with the wristwatches recovered from him by the EFCC
Popular social media celebrity, Ismaila Mustapha widely known as Mompha has been arrested by men of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged involvement in cyber crime and money laundering.
The commission revealed this on its official twitter handle on Tuesday afternoon.
‘The EFCC, Lagos office, has arrested a renowned Social Media celebrity, Ismaila Mustapha popularly known as Mompha for an alleged involvement in internet related fraud and money laundering’, it tweeted.
Alleged Internet fraud, Money Laundering: EFCC Arrests Ismaila Mustapha, a.k.a Mompha
The EFCC, Lagos office, has arrested a renowned Social Media celebrity, Ismaila Mustapha popularly known as Mompha for an alleged involvement in internet related fraud and money laundering. pic.twitter.com/i7oTTjtS1l— EFCC Nigeria (@officialEFCC) October 22, 2019
According to the commission, ‘the suspect was arrested on Friday 18, October 2019 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on his way to Dubai Emirate following series of intelligence reports received by the Commission’.
“Actionable cross border intelligence received from collaborative law enforcement agencies about his alleged involvement in the criminal activities further strengthened our suspicion”, the commission added.
The EFCC noted on its Twitter handle that ‘the suspect, who allegedly perpetrates his fraudulent activities under the guise of being a Bureau de Change operator, was always seen with his little son flaunting huge amount of foreign currencies on his social medial platforms’.
‘Investigations have also revealed that Ismaila is only using the BDC business, he jointly owned with his siblings, as a decoy to launder his proceeds of crime’, the EFCC added.
According to the commission, the suspect has, however, admitted to be reasonably involved in the first two cases he was alleged to be involved in and he has provided useful information to the commission.
The EFCC further revealed that at the point of arrest, ‘five wristwatches with a total worth of over twenty million naira (N20, 000, 000: 00) was recovered from the suspect who will soon be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded.
