Court admits nine exhibits against Malami, family in alleged N8.7bn money laundering trial

A Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, on Monday admitted nine documentary exhibits in the ongoing trial of a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, alongside his wife, Hajia Bashir Asabe, and his son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami.

The trial, presided over by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, centres on an amended 16-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), bordering on conspiracy, procuring, disguising, concealing and laundering proceeds of unlawful activities amounting to N8,713,923,759.49.

According to the EFCC, the alleged offences contravene provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.The exhibits, tendered through the fourth prosecution witness, Mashelia Arhyel Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank Plc, were admitted as evidence despite initial objections from defence counsel.Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, J. S. Okutepa, SAN, the witness explained his role in handling requests from law enforcement agencies.“I work as a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, Maitama branch. My duty includes receiving correspondence from law enforcement agencies and responding accordingly,” he said.

Mr Bata told the court that he received correspondence from the EFCC requesting documents linked to accounts associated with the defendants and several companies, including 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 stated.

He said the bank complied by providing both soft and hard copies of the requested records, which were subsequently tendered in court.Upon application by Mr Okutepa, the court admitted the documents—dated between 19 July 2024 and 12 March 2026—as Exhibits D1 to D9, notwithstanding an objection by defence counsel, J. B. Daudu, SAN, who noted that “the dates are almost all in March.”

Under further examination by prosecution counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, the witness gave a breakdown of transactions contained in the exhibits.He identified Exhibit D1 as comprising account opening documents and statements linked to accounts belonging to Mr Malami and A.A. Malami & Co, including both naira and dollar accounts.

According to him, one of the account statements covered transactions from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2023.The witness confirmed that the accounts were active between 2015 and 2023, adding that “there were transfers within that period.

”He told the court that total credits into one of the accounts stood at N383,637,21.55 between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2023, while credits between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2015 amounted to 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.Providing further details, Mr Bata said the account received N194,791,608.00 from New Horizons Limited on 11 November 2020, and N622,500,000.00 from Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited on 24 June 2022.

He added that the account recorded inflows of N250 million each from Rayhaan Hotels Limited on 1 July and 7 July 2022, as well as N500 million on 22 December 2022 linked to Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited.The witness noted that the exhibits reflected multiple high-value transactions running into billions of naira.

Following the testimony, defence counsel, Mr Daudu, sought an adjournment to enable the defence team to study the documents and prepare for cross-examination.“My lord, we need time to go through the nine exhibits tendered,” he said.

Justice Abdulmalik subsequently adjourned the matter till 13 May 2026 for continuation of trial.