The trial of social media celebrity Ismailia Mustapha, also known as Mompha, over fraud allegations, faced an adjournment by Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja.
The reason cited for the adjournment was the absence of a prosecution witness.
Mrs. Bilikisu Buhari-Bala, representing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), informed the judge that the intended witness was currently out of jurisdiction.
Mompha, being tried in absentia after jumping bail, is facing charges related to an alleged N6.5 billion money laundering case.
The EFCC accused Mompha of retaining and transferring funds, including N5,998,884,653.18, N32 million, N120 million, and N15,960,000, totaling over N6.5 billion. The agency further alleged that Mompha concealed his interest in inexpensive wristwatches and other movable assets valued at over N70 million.
The defendant, who had been declared wanted by the court, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge before he stopped attending his trial in 2022.
At the resumed hearing of the matter yesterday, Mrs Buhari-Bala told the court that her witness, an employee of the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), is undergoing a three-month workshop abroad, hence, he was unable to be in court on Wednesday.
She then urged the judge to allow the unnamed witness to testify virtually in order not to further delay the proceedings.
This request was opposed to by the defence lawyer, Kolawole Salami, who stated that the prosecution should have applied for virtual proceedings since September, when the matter came up last.
After listening to the lawyers, Justice Dada, agreed with the defence team and also rejected taking evidence from the witness virtually.
She adjourned the matter to December 19 for the continuation of the trial.
