EFCC arrests Mompha, recovers N20m watches

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Lagos zonal office, has arrested a social media celebrity, Ismaila Mustapha, popularly known as Mompha, for alleged involvement in Internet fraud and money laundering.

At the point of arrest, five wristwatches with a total value of over N20m was claimed to have been recovered from him.

The anti-graft agency said the suspect was arrested on Friday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on his way to Dubai, United Arab Emirate, following series of intelligence reports said to be linking him to organised transnational cyber fraud and money laundering.

“Mustapha allegedly perpetrates his fraudulent activities under the cover of being a Bureau de Change operator, to launder his proceeds of crime,” the EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, said in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.

The commission disclosed that the suspect had volunteered useful information while investigation continued, adding that he would be charged to court as soon as investigation was concluded.