A compliance officer from Jaiz Bank Plc appeared in the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday. She testified about an account linked to former Attorney-General Abubakar Malami, his wife Asabe Bashir, and their son Abdulaziz Malami.
The three family members face charges of money laundering involving N8.7 billion.
The witness, Munawwarah Anas, is the fifth prosecution witness. She talked about millions of naira in deposits and withdrawals in Alkausar Farm’s account.
Mr Malami, his wife, and son are accused of laundering N8.7 billion believed to be from illegal activities. They have pleaded not guilty to these charges.
The charges, filed against them last December, claim they engaged in money laundering between 2015 and 2025 using different bank accounts, businesses, and high-value properties.
The charges also accuse them of conspiracy, procuring, hiding, and laundering money from illegal activities worth N8.7 billion.
Most of the transactions reportedly happened while Mr Malami served as Attorney-General under former President Muhammadu Buhari from 2015 to 2023.
Witness’ testimony
During her testimony, led by prosecution lawyer Jibrin Okutepa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Ms Anas explained her role as a compliance officer. She said Jaiz Bank got a request from the EFCC for documents related to Alkausar Farm’s account opening.
She stated that the bank replied through a letter dated 4 February to the anti-graft agency.
The prosecution then tried to present the bank’s response, compliance letter, and account opening documents as evidence.
Defence lawyer Adedayo Adedeji, also a SAN, chose to wait before objecting until the final address.
The judge, Joyce Abdulmalik, accepted the documents as evidence and marked them as Exhibits E Series.
In her testimony, Ms Anas stated that on 13 June 2018, the account received a cash deposit of N1 million from Hassan Aliyu. On 20 June 2018, it got another cash deposit of N2.25 million from Aliyu Mohammed.
She further testified that on 7 December 2018, the account saw multiple inflows from Kalamu Wahid Global Concept. This included N10 million transfers on four occasions and an extra N8 million on that same day.
On 18 December 2018, the account had a debit transfer of N45.5 million to Donaliv Global Nigeria Limited.
Ms Anas also mentioned that the account received N26.25 million from Al-Afiya Energy Limited on 13 July 2020 and another N26.25 million from the same company on 22 July 2020.
She said that on 24 July 2020, the account had a debit transfer of N50 million to Sahad Stores Limited and another transfer of N1 million to Alfagai Jewelry Nigeria Limited.
On 12 August 2020, the account received a credit of N2.03 million, and the same day, Aliyu Mohammed Hassan withdrew a cheque of N2.03 million.
Cross-examination
During cross-examination by defence lawyer Mr Adedeji, Ms Anas said she was not the account officer for the account.
She also told the court that Jaiz Bank has a chief compliance officer based in Abuja.
The witness confirmed that none of the accused were signatories to the account.
She stated that none of the transactions in the account records came from the Federal Ministry of Justice and that none of the accused were signatories.
At this point in the trial, the importance of the bank entries to the charges is still unclear.
The judge discharged the witness after her testimony and postponed the case until 17 July for the trial to continue.
Between March and April, the prosecution called its first four witnesses.
The first witness, David Ajoma, a compliance officer with Sterling Bank in Abuja, said Metropolitan Autotech provided the cash collateral for a loan to Rayhaan Hotels Limited. He noted that both companies have separate accounts with the bank. He added that Hassan Aliyu is the signatory to the Metropolitan Autotech account.
The second witness, Daniel Kwayil, a compliance officer with Union Bank, presented the account opening package and statement for Meethaq Hotels Limited. He said Asabe Rakiya Bashir, Mr Malami’s wife, is the only signatory to that account.
The third witness, Olomotane Egoro, a compliance officer with Access Bank, presented account opening documents linked to Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited and Khadimiyya for Justice and Development Initiative, which he connected to Mr Malami’s son.
The fourth witness, Mashelia Bata from Zenith Bank Plc, said funds moved through several companies including Rayhaan Hotels Limited, Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited, Nashab Limited, Golden Age Global Ventures, and Rahamaniyya Properties Limited.
He mentioned that the bank records were part of the documents requested by investigators and shown in court.
Besides this corruption case, Mr Malami is also dealing with forfeiture proceedings involving nearly N13 billion in assets seized from him as alleged proceeds of illegal activities.
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