Alleged N8.7b money laundering: Court admits nine exhibits in Malami, others’ trial
The Federal High Court in Abuja has admitted nine exhibits in the ongoing trial of former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, and two others. Malami is being tried
The Federal High Court in Abuja has admitted nine exhibits in the ongoing trial of former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, and two others.
Malami is being tried alongside his wife, Hajia Bashir Asabe, and his son, Abdulaziz Malami, on a 16-count charge of money laundering filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The EFCC accused the three of conspiring to conceal, disguise, and retain about N8.7 billion, alleged to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
It claimed that the alleged money laundering activities took place between 2015 and 2025 through multiple bank accounts, corporate entities, and high-value property acquisitions.
At the resumed hearing on Monday, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik admitted the exhibits after the prosecution tendered them through its fourth witness, Mashelia Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank Plc.
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Led in evidence by prosecuting lawyer Jibril Okutepa (SAN), Bata told the court that he received correspondence from the EFCC in the course of his duties, requesting documents linked to the defendants and related entities.
“I work as a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, Maitama branch. My duties include receiving correspondence from law enforcement agencies and responding accordingly,” he said.
He said the bank complied with the requests and provided both soft and hard copies of documents linked to accounts belonging to the defendants and companies such as Rayhaan Hotels Limited, Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited, Nashab Limited, Golden Age Global Ventures, and Rahamaniyya Properties Limited.
“My lord, the documents are nine,” he said, adding that he could identify them in court.
Justice Abdulmalik admitted the documents, dated between July 19, 2024, and March 12, 2026, as Exhibits D1 to D9 after Mr. Okutepa applied to tender them.
This followed an objection by defence lawyer Joseph Daudu (SAN), who said “the dates are almost all in March.”
The witness gave details of transactions contained in the exhibits.
He said Exhibit D1 contains account opening documents and statements for accounts belonging to Abubakar Malami and A.A. Malami & Co, including naira and dollar accounts.
Bata said one of the account statements covers the period from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2023.
He added that the accounts were active between 2015 and 2023 and noted that “there were transfers within that period.”
The witness said total credits into one of the accounts stood at N383,637,021.55 between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2023. He added that total credits between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2015, stood at N560,506,465.12.
On debits, he said N384,322,120.85 was recorded between 2016 and 2023, while N571,891,174.08 was debited between 2012 and 2015.
The witness further said the account received N194,791,608.00 from New Horizons Limited on November 11, 2020. He added that it also received N622,500,000.00 from Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited on June 24, 2022.
He added that the account received N250 million each from Rayhaan Hotels Limited on July 1 and July 7, 2022. He said there was also an inflow of N500 million on December 22, 2022, linked to Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited.
Bata said several other transactions in the exhibits run into billions of naira.
At the conclusion of Bata’s evidence-in-chief, lawyers to the defendants sought an adjournment to enable them to familiarise themselves with the documents tendered and prepare for cross-examination.
Justice Abdulmalik adjourned till May 13 for continuation of the trial.
