N8.7bn Fraud Trial: Banker testifies on inflows into accounts linked to Malami, family members

A compliance officer with Zenith Bank Plc, Mashelia Bata, on Monday testified on large inflows into bank accounts linked to former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and members of his family

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Mr Malami is facing N8.7 billion money laundering charges before the Federal High Court in Abuja alongside his wife, Asabe Bashir, and his son, Abdulaziz Malami.

In 16 counts, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) accused them of conspiring to conceal, disguise and retain about N8.7 billion proceeds of unlawful activities, which they allegedly used to acquire properties in Abuja, Kano, and Kebbi states.

EFCC’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, shared details of Monday’s proceedings in a statement, which indicated that Mr Bata testified as the fourth prosecution witness in the trial before judge Joyce Abdulmalik.

Two prosecution lawyers, Jibrin Okutepa and Ekele Iheanacho, both Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANS), took turns to lead the witness to give some details of inflows running into billions of naira into the accounts of companies linked to the defendants.

He testified referencing account statements of the firms, which were earlier on Monday tendered by the prosecution and admitted by the court as exhibits.

The court admitted a total of nine documents, comprised of account statements and account opening packages of the firms.

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The judge, Joyce Abdulmalik, admitted the documents and marked them Exhibits D1 to D9.

The witness said funds moved through entities including “Rayhaan Hotels Limited, Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited, Nashab Limited, Golden Age Global Ventures, and Rahamaniyya Properties Limited.

Inflows

Fielding questions from Mr Iheanacho, the witness gave details of transactions captured in the exhibits, the document said Exhibit D1 contains account opening documents and statements of naira and dollar account belonging to Abubakar Malami and A.A. Malami & Co.

He said one of the account statements covers the period from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2023.

Mr Bata said the accounts were active between 2015 and 2023 and noted that “there were transfers within that period.”

He said total credits into one of the accounts stood at about N383.6 million (N383,637,021.55) between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2023.

He added that total credits between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2015 stood at N560.5 million (N560,506,465.12).

On debits, he said about N384.3 million (N384,322,120.85) was recorded between 2016 and 2023, while N571.9 million (N571,891,174.08) was debited between 2012 and 2015.

Giving further details, the witness said the account received N194. 8 million (N194,791,608.00) from New Horizons Limited on 11 November 2020.

He said the account also received N622.5 million (N622,500,000.00) from Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited on 24 June 2022.

He added that the account received N250 million each from Rayhaan Hotels Limited on 1 July and 7 July 2022. He said there was also an inflow of N500 million on 22 December 2022 linked to Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited.

‘Bank complied with bank’s request’

Earlier fielding questions from Mr Okutepa, one of the pair of senior prosecution lawyers, Mr Bata told the court that EFCC’s correspondence to the bank, requesting documents linked to the defendants and related entities, was referred to him.

“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.

READ ALSO: Prosecution witnesses detail bank transactions linking Malami’s son, wife in N8.7bn money laundering trial

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.

Mrs Abdulmalik admitted the documents with dates from 19 July 2024 to 12 March 2026 as Exhibits D1 to D9 after Mr Okutepa applied to tender them. Defence lawyer, Joseph Daudu, a SAN, noted that who “the dates are almost all in March.”

The witness said several other transactions in the exhibits ran into billions of naira.

The prosecution alleged that the scheme ran between 2015 and 2025 through multiple bank accounts, corporate entities and high-value property acquisitions.

rrespondence from law enforcement agencies and responding accordingly,” he said.

After the testimony, Malami’s lawyer, Mr Daudu, asked the court for time to study the exhibits and prepare for cross-examination.

Judge Abdulmalik adjourned the case until 13 May for continuation of trial.