The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has
arrested a Lebanese identified as Hamza Koudeih and two others suspected to be
accomplices of Dubai-based Nigerian social media celebrity, Ismaila Mustapha
a.k.a Mompha.
Operatives of the anti-graft agency arrested Koudeih after a
three-hour stand-off at his N1.8 billion luxury apartment in the 33-storey Eko
Atlantic Pearl Tower, Victoria Island, Lagos. It was learnt that he and his
wife refused opening the door to their apartment and also refused responding to
appeals by the building's chief security officer.
The suspect who alongside Mompha and other arrested suspects
are allegedly kingpins of a network of cyber criminals who laundered N33
billion through three firms, lived in an apartment which was fortified with
triple reinforced fire-proof door and closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras,
making it difficult for the operatives to gain entrance.
However after EFCC operatives gained access into the
apartment after trying to break down the door with breaching tools, his wife
claimed that her husband had escaped through the window even though they lived
in the topmost floor.
Koudeih was found hiding in the ceiling and a fire-proof
safe containing different charms and talismans in calabashes was uncovered
after a search was conducted in his bedroom.
“Our officials knew
that he was still inside and they were even hoping to persuade him not to jump
out through the window because it would be suicide,” EFCC Lagos Zonal Head, Mr.
Mohammed Rabo, who confirmed the arrest, told The Nation.
Two luxury cars were
recovered from the suspect who claimed the charms were his “prayer
objects”.
Koudeih and his wife’s immigration status are currently
being investigated. ;ocal and international law enforcement agencies are said
to have indicated interest to collaborate in the investigation.
Rhe Lagos zonal head of the EFCC, Mohammed
Rabo said the operation that led to Koudeih’s arrest was “an offshoot of the
collaboration between the EFCC and the United States’ Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI),” but that Koudeih was arrested based on “purely EFCC
intelligence”.
Rabo added: “Actionable intelligence received from local and
international law enforcement agencies had revealed that Koudeih and Mompha
alongside their collaborators are high valued targets in Organised Cyber
Syndicate Network (OCSN).
“Investigations have also revealed that Mompha uses a firm
known as Ismalob Global Investments Limited to perpetrate about N14 billion
money laundering while Koudeih also operate two firms namely: THK Services
Limited and CHK properties Limited to launder about N19 billion.”
An update on Mompha's arrest also revealed that 51 bank
accounts he allegedly uses for money laundering has been uncovered. The five
wristwatches recovered from him after his arrest on Tuesday October 22, has been found to be worth over N60 million
rather than the N20 million earlier thought.
0 Comments