The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has challenged Ismaila Mustapha, popularly known as Mompha, to prove his corruption allegations against its operatives.

The Guardian reports that Mompha had labelled the anti-graft agency “useless and corrupt” after an EFCC prosecution witness in a money laundering trial involving the internet celebrity told a court that N35bn was discovered in two bank accounts linked to him.

But, in a statement on Saturday, EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, described Mompha’s allegations as “malicious and unsubstantiated.”

“The claim, coming from an accused in a criminal trial for conspiracy to launder funds obtained through unlawful activity, retention of proceeds of criminal activities, and failure to disclose assets and property, ought to be ignored as the rantings of a sinking defendant. But his claims strike at the heart of the Commission’s most prized value—integrity—and must be challenged,” the EFCC said.

“The Commission is alarmed that the accused would abandon the platform offered by the court to launch a media war against it through spurious claims.

“If he believes that raising phantom accusations against the Commission will scare it from diligently prosecuting his case, he is mistaken as no amount of scaremongering will deter the Commission from pursuing the case to a logical conclusion.”

The EFCC spokesman said agency boss Ola Olukoyede has directed that Mompha be invited to provide “evidence of any issue of corruption against any staff of the Commission.”

Mompha’s outburst was in response to the EFCC’s recent report that a staggering N35 billion was discovered in his bank account.

A prosecution witness, Idi Musa, and an investigator with the EFCC testified in court that the money was found in two bank accounts linked to Mompha.

Musa spoke in the ongoing trial of Mompha, who is facing money laundering charges alongside his company, Ismalob Global Investment Limited.

The anti-graft agency had arraigned Mompha on an eight-count charge, including conspiracy to launder funds obtained through unlawful activity, retention of proceeds of criminal conduct, and failure to disclose assets and property, among others.

Mompha’s trial has been ongoing since January 2022, with the recent testimony from the EFCC’s witness shedding new light on the case.

It was reported that “The sixth prosecution witness, PW6, Idi Musa, in the trial of Ismaila Mustapha, (a.k.a Mompha), an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, July 1, 2024, told Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, how the sum of N35bn was found in two bank accounts linked to the defendant.”

The Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had, on January 12, 2022, arraigned Mompha alongside his company, Ismalob Global Investment Limited, on an eight-count charge bordering on conspiracy to launder funds obtained through unlawful activity, retention of proceeds of criminal conduct, laundering of funds obtained through unlawful activity, failure to disclose assets and property, possession of documents containing false pretenses, and use of property derived from unlawful acts.

Reposting the writeup, Mompha wrote on Instagram: “The most useless and corrupt Nigeria government agency @officialefcc ???”