Justice Mojisola Dada of the Ikeja Special Offences Court, Lagos on Thursday granted the extension of plea bargain until June 10 to take final report in the case of N6bn money laundering against social media celebrity, Ismaila Mustapha.
Justice Dada gave the date after defence and prosecution counsel prayed for extension of time.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had, on January 12, arraigned Mustapha aka Mompha and his company, Ismalob Global Investment Ltd.
The defendant is charged with eight-count bordering on conspiracy to launder money obtained through unlawful activities, and laundering of money obtained through unlawful activities.
Other charges include retention of proceeds of criminal conduct, use of property derived from unlawful acts, possession of documents containing false pretences and failure to disclose assets.
During the court sitting, the defence counsel, Kolawole Salami, who held brief for Gboyega Oyewole SAN, informed the court that discussions were ongoing on plea bargain with EFCC.
Salami prayed the court for extension of time for both parties to reach a conclusion.
He said, “My lord, the matter was adjourned until today for a report.
“We have on our part submitted a proposal to the EFCC and just received their own proposal yesterday.
“Furthermore, a meeting was held at prosecution’s office at 4.00pm to discuss the terms of the proposal.
“We made considerable progress at the meeting yesterday and have agreed on one or two areas.
“We shall be praying for a short date to report, but if we are not able to reach a conclusion, we shall proceed to trial.”
The prosecuting counsel for EFCC, S.I Suleiman confirmed the position of defence counsel, and also prayed the court for an adjournment.
Suleiman said, “We confirm the position of defence and have reached out to the defence team and met at the prosecution’s office yesterday.
“We need a little fine-tuning as we humbly ask for your indulgence to extend the date for the report.”
Justice Dada adjourned the matter until June 10 to take final plea bargain.
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