A federal high court in Abuja has accepted nine documents presented by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in the ongoing trial of Abubakar Malami, former attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice.
Malami is being tried alongside his wife, Asabe Bashir, and his son, Abdulaziz, over alleged money laundering offences.
The anti-graft agency is prosecuting them on an amended 16-count charge involving conspiracy and the laundering of N8.7 billion, said to be proceeds of unlawful activities, under the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The court admitted the documents on Monday after they were tendered by Mashelia Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, who appeared as the fourth prosecution witness.
Bata told the court that the bank received requests from the EFCC seeking records connected to accounts linked to the defendants and certain companies.
He said the bank complied by providing both electronic and physical copies of account records associated with entities such as Rayhaan Hotels Limited, Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited, Nashab Limited, Golden Age Global Ventures, and Rahamaniyya Properties Limited.
According to him, the documents, dated between July 2024 and March 2026, were verified and form part of the bank’s official records.
Jibrin Okutepa, counsel to the EFCC, applied to tender the documents, which were admitted as exhibits despite objections from Joseph Daudu, counsel to the defendants.
Under further questioning, Bata detailed transactions linked to accounts belonging to Malami and his law firm, A.A. Malami & Co.
He said one account recorded total credits of N383,637,211.55 between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2023, while N560,506,465.12 was credited between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2015.
On withdrawals, he stated that N384,322,120.85 was debited between 2016 and 2023, while N571,891,174.08 was withdrawn between 2012 and 2015.
Bata also highlighted specific inflows, including N194,791,608 received on November 11, 2020, from New Horizons Limited, and N622,500,000 received on June 24, 2022, from Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited.
He added that two separate inflows of N250 million each were recorded on July 1 and July 7, 2022, from Rayhaan Hotels Limited, while another N500 million was received on December 22, 2022, also linked to Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited.
The witness noted that the transactions reflect a broader pattern of movements across the accounts under review.
Following his testimony, the defence requested time to review the documents and prepare for cross-examination.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik adjourned the case until May 13, 2026, for continuation of the trial.