The Ikeja Special Offences Court has reduced the bail sum of Ismaila Mustapha, an Instagram influencer, popularly known as Mompha, from N200 million to N25 million.
The judge made an order reducing the sum on Monday. Mompha alongside his company, Ismalob Global Investment Limited is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) for alleged N6 billion fraud.
Recall Nairametrics reported on January 18, that Justice Mojisola Dada granted Mompha bail in the sum of N200 million.
What happened in court
After granting Mompha bail, the judge also ordered him to provide two sureties in the like sum.
At the resumed hearing today, the defence counsel Mr Gboyega Oyewole (SAN) prayed the court to reduce the bail sum by lessening the bail condition.
In an application, Mompha’s lawyer, Mr Oyewole prayed the court to lessen the bail condition of his client.
He also attached a 13-paragraph affidavit in support of the application.
He said, “My lord, I have an application dated March 8, 2022, seeking the court’s variation of the bail granted to the defendant. The application is supported by a 13-paragraph affidavit which we adopted.
“We seek the prosecution to see toward the possibility of some kind of restitution but this is being tampered with because of detention. We urge your lordship to consider the variation as proposed.”
Responding to the defence counsel, Mr Rotimi, Oyedepo the prosecution counsel told the court that he is aware of the application but granting it was at the discretion of the court.
“My lord, we are aware of the application. We have opposed it and gave conditions to the defendant. We will leave it to my lord’s discretion,” Oyedepo said.
In her ruling, Justice Dada held that “The defendant is admitted to bail of N25 million with two sureties in like sum. One of the sureties must have a landed property worth N50 million within the court’s jurisdiction.”
“The defendant shall be temporarily released to defence counsel only for two weeks pending perfection of the bail conditions. Defence counsel should also write an undertaking to that effect,” the judge ruled.
What you should know
The charges against Mompha border on conspiracy to launder funds obtained through unlawful activity, retention of proceeds of criminal conduct, use of property derived from unlawful act, possession of documents containing false pretence and failure to disclose assets and property.
