A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Monday admitted nine documentary exhibits in the ongoing alleged money laundering trial involving former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
The trial judge, Joyce Abdulmalik, admitted the documents after they were tendered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission through its fourth prosecution witness.
Malami is standing trial alongside his wife, Hajia Bashir Asabe, and his son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, on an amended 16-count charge bordering on conspiracy and alleged laundering of N8.7bn.
The anti-graft agency told the court that the offences contravene provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
During proceedings, the prosecution witness, Mashelia Arhyel Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank Plc, informed the court that the documents were obtained following a request from the EFCC.
He explained that the bank provided both electronic and hard copies of account records linked to the defendants and several companies, including Rayhaan Hotels Limited and Rayhaan Bustan Agro Allied Limited.
According to the witness, the exhibits consist mainly of account opening documents and transaction statements covering several years of financial activities.
Bata disclosed that one of the accounts recorded total credits of over N383.6m between 2016 and 2023, while earlier transactions between 2012 and 2015 showed inflows exceeding N560.5m.
He further told the court that significant transactions were traced to the accounts, including a N194.7m inflow in November 2020 and multiple deposits amounting to hundreds of millions of naira in 2022.
The witness added that the documents reflected several other transactions running into billions of naira within the period under review.
Defence counsel, J. B. Daudu, initially objected to the admissibility of the documents, citing discrepancies in dates, but the court overruled the objection and admitted them as Exhibits D1 to D9.
Following the testimony, the defence requested more time to review the documents ahead of cross-examination.
Justice Abdulmalik granted the request and adjourned the case to May 13, 2026, for continuation of the trial.
