The Federal High Court in Abuja has admitted nine exhibits in the ongoing trial of former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, his wife, Hajia Bashir Asabe, and their son, Abdulaziz Malami, over alleged money laundering.
The defendants face a 16-count charge brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which accuses them of conspiring to conceal and retain about N8.7 billion said to be proceeds of unlawful activities between 2015 and 2025.
At Monday’s hearing, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik admitted the documents after they were presented by the prosecution through its fourth witness, Mashelia Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank. In his testimony, Bata said he works at the bank’s Maitama branch, where his duties include handling correspondence from law enforcement agencies.
He told the court that Zenith Bank received requests from the EFCC and supplied documents connected to the defendants and several companies, including Rayhaan Hotels Limited, Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited, Nashab Limited, Golden Age Global Ventures, and Rahamaniyya Properties Limited. Bata confirmed that the nine documents were available in court for identification.
The exhibits, dated between July 19, 2024, and March 12, 2026, were admitted as Exhibits D1 to D9 following an application by prosecuting counsel Jibril Okutepa, despite an objection from defence lawyer Joseph Daudu, who questioned the proximity of the dates.
Bata went on to detail transactions contained in the exhibits, including account opening records and bank statements for accounts linked to Abubakar Malami and A.A. Malami & Co, covering both naira and dollar accounts. One of the statements spanned January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2023. He noted that the accounts were active between 2015 and 2023 and involved multiple transfers.
According to the witness, one account recorded total credits of N383,637,021.55 between 2016 and 2023, while credits from 2012 to 2015 amounted to N560,506,465.12. Debit transactions stood at N384,322,120.85 between 2016 and 2023, and N571,891,174.08 between 2012 and 2015.
He also highlighted notable inflows, including N194,791,608.00 from New Horizons Limited on November 11, 2020, and N622,500,000.00 from Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited on June 24, 2022.
Further transactions included N250 million received twice from Rayhaan Hotels Limited on July 1 and July 7, 2022, as well as N500 million on December 22, 2022, linked to Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited. Bata added that several other transactions in the exhibits amount to billions of naira.
After the prosecution concluded its examination, defence counsel requested an adjournment to review the documents and prepare for cross-examination. Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the case until May 13 for continuation of the trial.
