Internet celebrity Ismaila Mustapha popularly known as Mompha has denied saying he was advised by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to maintain a low profile following the arrest of Ramon Abass aka Hushpuppi.
Mompha said comments he made during his interview on Instagram LIVE with On-Air Personality (OAP) Daddy Freeze were misinterpreted.
His rebuttal came on the heels of an EFCC statement on Monday falsifying claims that it ever offered such advice to Mompha.
Mompha and his firm, Ismalob Global Investment Ltd, are facing money laundering charges at the Federal High Court in Lagos.
“The EFCC wishes to dissociate itself from claims by Ismaila Mustapha, alias Mompha, currently circulating in the social media, that he was advised by the Commission to maintain a low profile in the wake of the indictment of his friend, Abbas Ramon alias Hushpuppi in a $1.1m international fraud conspiracy by US Law enforcement.
“The claim which did not mention the office of the Commission who supposedly gave the advice is spurious and should be discountenanced,” the EFCC statement said.
Mompha, in a statement on his Instagram handle, also advised the public to discountenance the story, saying he was not involved in any way with Hushpuppi’s predicament.
His statement reads in part: “My attention has been drawn to the false publication on all social media platforms and online news tagged ‘Mompha: EFCC told me to maintain a low profile after hushpuppi’s arrest’ which is presently going viral.
“This has come as a great surprise to me, as I neither made such statement nor insinuated anything of such via any means or platform.
“I want to use this medium to categorically state that the statement currently circulating the social media and online space is false and devoid of any iota of truth.
“At no time whatsoever did EFCC or any member of its staff told me to maintain a low profile in relation to Hush’s arrest.
“I only made reference to a minor incident that occurred last year that resulted in me deleting my pictures and later reposting them which only has to do with my personal and private affair.
“Finally, I wish to also state that the charges filed against me by EFCC are in relation to allegations of operating BDC without a license and have nothing to do with or involving fraud. I am therefore not a fraudster or in any way associated with fraudsters”.
