The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Friday opened its case in the money laundering trial of a former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Mr Malami, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), is standing trial along with his wife, Asabe Bashir, and his son, Abdulaziz Malami, on 16 counts of money laundering.
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EFCC accused the defendants of conspiring to conceal, disguise and retain about N8.7 billion proceeds of unlawful activities.
The prosecution alleged in the charges that the defendants carried out the alleged money laundering scheme between 2015 and 2025, through multiple bank accounts, corporate entities and high value property acquisitions.
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The case, which moved between two judges, was later reassigned to the current judge, Joyce Abdulmalik.
The defendants, who were first arraigned on 30 December 2025, were re-arraigned before the current judge on 27 February.
On that day, the prosecutor, Jibrin Okutepa, a SAN, applied to correct clerical errors in two of the counts, reducing figures from billions to millions.
Mr Malami and his co-defendants pleaded not guilty to all counts.
The judge then ordered the three defendants back to custody while they filed fresh bail applications. She then adjourned the matter until today (Friday) for the commencement of trial and hearing of the bail requests.
First witness testifies
At the resumed sitting, the trial judge directed the EFCC to call its first witness after Mr Malami’s lawyer, Joseph Daudu, a SAN, attempted to draw the court’s attention to the defendants’ pending bail application.
The judge reminded the lawyer that she had earlier ruled that the court would take the bail application and other motions after the prosecution’s first witness gave his evidence in chief.
Following the ruling, the EFCC called its first witness, David Ajoma, a compliance officer with Sterling Bank in Abuja.
Mr Ajoma told the court that he had worked with the bank for three years and handled compliance requests from law enforcement agencies.
He testified that on 2 December 2025, Sterling Bank received a request from the EFCC seeking details of loan facilities granted to Rayham Hotel Limited.
According to him, the bank later forwarded the requested documents, including the account opening package, loan account statements and other supporting records.
The witness also told the court that Metropolitan Autotech provided the cash collateral that backed the loan facility granted to Rayham Hotel Limited.
He explained that both Metropolitan Autotech and Rayham Hotel Limited maintain separate accounts with Sterling Bank. He added that Hassan Aliyu is the signatory to the Metropolitan Autotech account.
Under cross examination, Mr Ajoma admitted that he was not the relationship manager for either Rayham Hotel Limited or Metropolitan Autotech accounts. He said he was therefore not privy to the specific details or purposes of inflows into the accounts.
He also confirmed that the name of the former AGF, Mr Malami, did not appear on the loan application documents presented to the court.
According to the witness, the only name appearing on the loan application was Abdulaziz Malami, who signed as the Managing Director of Rayham Hotel Limited.
Mr Ajoma further told the court that none of the transactions reviewed by the bank originated from any government account, the Federal Ministry of Justice or from Mr Malami personally.
The compliance officer also stated that from the documents before the court he could not identify any suspicious transaction linked to the accounts under review. He added that no transaction breached regulations issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
After the witness concluded his testimony, lawyers to the defendants moved the bail application for Mr Malami, his wife and their son.
The EFCC told the court it did not oppose the request but urged the judge to impose conditions that would guarantee the defendants’ availability for trial.
Bail
In her ruling, the judge granted bail to the three defendants in the sum of N200 million each with two sureties in like sum.
The judge ordered that one of the sureties must deposit title documents of landed property located in either Maitama or Asokoro districts of Abuja.
The court also directed the defendants to deposit their international passports with the court registrar.
Pending the perfection of the bail conditions, the judge ordered that the Nigerian Correctional Service should remand the defendants in custody.
She then adjourned the case until 16 March for continuation of trial.
Background
The EFCC re- arraigned the trio on 16 money laundering charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The case first came before Judge Emeka Nwite on 30 December last year. The judge remanded the three defendants in custody and granted them bail of N500 million each with two sureties.
After the court resumed from the Christmas break, the authorities returned the file to the Chief Judge, John Tsoho, for reassignment.
The chief judge reassigned the case to Judge Obiora Egwuatu, who later withdrew from the case on personal grounds during the first hearing before him.
The chief judge again reassigned the matter to Ms Abdulmalik, who is also handling the terrorism financing case against Mr Malami and his son.
The EFCC alleged that Mr Malami and members of his family used a complex network of companies and bank accounts to launder alleged proceeds of unlawful activity.
The agency alleged that they concealed funds in corporate accounts, retained cash as loan collateral and acquired high value properties in Abuja, Kano and other locations.
READ ALSO: Court reschedules Malami’s terrorism trial as AGF office takes over prosecution from SSS
Other cases involving the defendants
Apart from the money laundering case being handled by the EFCC, the SSS also arraigned Mr Malami and his son, Abdulaziz, before the same judge on 3 February on six terrorism-related charges.
In the charges, the federal government alleged that Mr Malami, sometime in November 2022, knowingly abetted terrorism financing by allegedly refusing to prosecute suspected terrorism financiers whose case files were forwarded to his office while he served as Attorney General of the Federation.
The offence is said to be contrary to Section 26(2) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
However, on 4 March, the office of the Attorney General of the Federation announced that it had taken over the case from the SSS.
Mr Malami is also facing separate asset forfeiture proceedings involving properties in Abuja, Kano, Kaduna and his home state of Kebbi. The properties are valued at nearly N213 billion.
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