Popular Nigerian socialite and Bureau De Change operator, Ismail Mustapha alias Mompha said he was contacted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) after Hushpuppi was arrested.
Mompha stated this on Saturday night after appearing on Daddy Freeze’s Instagram LIVE.
He said he was told by EFCC to delete his social media page and maintain a low profile after the incident.
Mompha said that his embattled friend, Abbas Ramon alias Hushpuppi, would not have been nabbed if he had heeded his (Mompha) advice.
Mompha, whom the EFCC named in an N157.1m fraud charge filed against a popular auto dealer, Sarumi Babafemi, alias 606 in February, said this during an Instagram Live with Daddy freeze on Saturday night.
He said, “What fucked him (Hushpuppi) up was that he didn’t listen to me. He is stubborn hence his arrest and trial in the U.S.”
Hushpuppi was arrested by the FBI in Dubai and is facing criminal charges in the United States of conspiracy to launder money obtained through fraud.
However, Mompha said Hushpuppi’s downfall came as a result of his stubbornness and high-handedness.
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”When you are big, you are big. I was with FBI agents one-on-one on October 19, 2020. They questioned me but couldn’t find any incriminating evidence.
”Remember that I was the one that brought Hushpuppi from Malaysia, since his arrest, people on social media have said that I will be arrested next. Some even go as far as tagging EFCC and FBI”.
”On the day Hush was arrested, I received a lot of calls and tags from different people. EFCC had to call me directly to close down my social media and maintain a low profile”.
”My case with EFCC was because someone felt the need to punish a big boy like me, all because of BDC’. Nigerians on social media love to gossip and bad luck for rich people.
”And it’s not my fault that I come from a rich home, I have even hustled all my life,” Mompha said.
Hushpuppi and most recently, Abba Kyari, were among six suspects indicted in a $1.1m international fraud conspiracy.
READ ALSO: FBI submits evidence against Abba Kyari over Hushpuppi’s scam
They were named in an FBI criminal complaint lodged at the United States District Court in California.
Mr Kyari, a Nigerian ‘super cop,’ has been under fire since the FBI unsealed a 69-page court document showing that he had been under investigation by the Bureau for his alleged link to Hushpuppi. The latter had pleaded guilty to the fraud allegations levelled against him.
Following the announcement on July 26, Nigerians began tagging Mompha, saying he was next in line to be arrested because of his association with Hushpuppi.
They also referenced Daddy Freeze’s 2019 visit to Hushpuppi’s Palazzo Versace home in Dubai, saying it was also only a matter of time before the FBI came after Daddy Freeze.
As of August 2020, Mompha was standing trial alongside his company, Ismalob Global Investment Ltd, on an amended 22-count charge bordering on cyber fraud and money laundering to the tune of N33 billion.
Newsflash Nigeria reported Mompha’s arrest including how a Federal High Court in Lagos, ordered the EFCC to release all items it seized from him.
The items include five luxury wristwatches, an Apple iPod, an iPhone 8 device, and a pair of sunglasses, which were among other items found on him when he was arrested on October 19, 2019, in Abuja.
