Justice Mojisola Dada of the Ikeja Special Offences Court, Lagos on Wednesday, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of suspected internet fraudster, Ismaila Mustapha alias Mompha.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had on January 12 charged Mompha and his company, Ismalob Global Investment Limited, with N6bn money laundering.
The court had on March 28, ordered Mompha to submit his passport to court after his bail sum was reduced from N200m to N25m.
However, the defendant has failed to appear in court on two scheduled dates for his trial.
During proceedings on Wednesday, the judge stood down the matter for a while in expectation of the defendant’s arrival, but failed to appear in court again at resumption of court proceedings.
The EFCC lead counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo said the court should issue an arrest warrant against him.
The judge said the excuse given last time for the defendant not appearing in court was that he contacted COVID-19 which was found to be false.