The trial of former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on alleged money laundering charges resumed on Monday at the Federal High Court in Abuja with fresh testimony on how funds were moved through a hotel account linked to his wife .
A prosecution witness, Daniel Simon Kwayil, a bank compliance officer, told the court that large sums were repeatedly transferred from the account of Meethaq Hotels Limited, where Malami’s wife, Asabe Rakiya Bashir, is the sole signatory, to the former minister and his law firm .
Kwayil, testifying as the second prosecution witness, identified Malami’s wife in the dock and confirmed that the hotel’s account profile and board resolution listed her as the only signatory, with her identification documents attached to the account opening file .
Malami, who served as Justice Minister from November 11, 2015 to May 29, 2023 under former President Muhammadu Buhari, is standing trial alongside his son, Abdulaziz, and his wife, Asabe, on a 16 count amended charge .
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission alleges that the three defendants conspired to disguise, conceal and launder proceeds of unlawful activities amounting to about 9 billion naira, in violation of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011 .
According to the EFCC, the former AGF allegedly used different companies and accounts to hide suspected illicit funds and acquire high value properties in Abuja, Kebbi and Kano .
The commission told the court that between July 2022 and June 2025, the defendants used Metropolitan Auto Tech Limited to conceal more than 1.01 billion naira in a bank account, and between September 2020 and February 2021, allegedly moved about 600 million naira through the same company .
The EFCC further alleged that in March 2021 the defendants kept 600 million naira as cash collateral for a 500 million naira bank loan obtained by Rayhaan Hotels Limited, despite allegedly knowing the money was proceeds of crime .
Kwayil testified that his bank received a request from the EFCC in 2025 for records of account number 0179011105 operated by Meethaq Hotels Limited and that the hotel’s statement of account showed multiple inflows and outflows running into hundreds of millions of naira .
He told the court that on February 5, 2024, there was an instant transfer of 14 million naira from the hotel’s account to Malami, followed by a 24 million naira transfer to him on March 4, 2024, and a separate 24 million naira payment to his firm, A A Malami and Co, on February 3, 2024 .
The witness added that on May 3, 2024, the account recorded a transfer of 12.5 million naira in favour of Malami, all on the instructions of the hotel .
He also listed several deposits into the Meethaq Hotels account in late 2022, including payments of over 1.7 million naira and 21.2 million naira on November 3, 685,200 naira and 685,400 naira on November 8, and 1,047,019.55 naira on November 18 .
Kwayil said the account received two separate deposits of 10 million naira each from YMB Energy Limited on November 28, 2022, as well as further credits of 4,565,320.58 naira on December 2 and 4,828,880.56 naira on December 5 .
He told the court that on December 20, 2022, the account received 1,83,686.44 naira, while on January 10, 2023, deposits of 43,177,453.94 naira and 4,650,781.50 naira were made, followed by credits of 915,540.84 naira on January 17 and 25,483,054.24 naira on February 12, 2023 .
The witness said that on March 3, 2025, there was an inflow of 11,166,235.10 naira, then 118,814.64 naira on March 14, 2023, and 13,388,808.38 naira on April 3, 2023, all into the same hotel account .
After Kwayil completed his evidence, the EFCC called a third witness, Olomotane Egoro, another bank compliance officer, who testified on transactions involving accounts linked to Rayhaan Bustan and Agro Allied Nigeria Limited, and Khadimiyya for Justice and Development Initiative .
Egoro told the court that his bank received EFCC requests in February 2026 for account documents, including opening forms, statements, loan offer letters and certificates of identification for accounts with numbers 1383843226 and 0828310158 .
He said documents before the court showed that Malami’s son was the sole signatory to the Rayhaan Bustan and Agro Allied Nigeria Limited account, which received a 400 million naira loan disbursed on October 9, 2020 and fully repaid by July 14, 2022 .
According to the witness, on November 10, 2020, 100 million naira was transferred in several tranches from the Rayhaan Bustan account to New Horizon Limited, alongside an additional transfer of 10,575,360 naira on the same day, while 4 million naira and 300,000 naira were debited earlier as management fee and VAT on the loan .
Testifying on the Khadimiyya for Justice and Development Initiative account, Egoro said the signatories included Malami’s son, Usman Gotomo Abubakar and Faruku Abubakar, and that the account received a first inflow of 500,000 naira from Abdulaziz Malami on October 17, 2019, followed by similar and larger deposits from various individuals and companies in late 2019 and 2020 .
He told the court that total lodgements into the Khadimiyya account between October 17, 2019 and December 31, 2023 amounted to 722,986,603.75 naira, while total lodgements into the Rayhaan Bustan and Agro Allied Limited account between March 26, 2020 and January 31, 2025 stood at 1,857,978,100 naira .
Defence counsel Joseph Daudu, SAN, objected to the admission of some of the bank documents, arguing that he had not been given the witness statement in advance, but Justice Joyce Abdulmalik ruled that since the bank was listed as a witness source, the defence could cross examine the witness and seek time to study the documents if needed .
Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the case until April 20 for continuation of hearing while Malami, his wife and his son remain on 200 million naira bail each, earlier granted with two sureties in like sum .
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