A prosecution witness on Tuesday gave details of several high-value transactions that allegedly passed through the account of Alkausar Farm, one of the entities linked to the alleged ₦8.7 billion money laundering case involving former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN.
The witness, Munawwarah Salisu Anas, a Compliance Officer with Jaiz Bank Plc, testified before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja as the fifth prosecution witness in the trial of Malami, his wife, Hajia Bashir Asabe, and his son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is prosecuting the defendants on a 16-count charge bordering on conspiracy, procuring, disguising, concealing and laundering alleged proceeds of unlawful activities amounting to ₦8,713,923,759.49.
The alleged offences are said to be contrary to the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
At the resumed hearing, prosecution counsel, Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, informed the court that the matter was slated for continuation of trial and called Anas to testify.
Led in evidence by Okutepa, the witness told the court that her duties as a compliance officer include interfacing with law enforcement agencies, including the EFCC.
She said the bank received correspondence from the EFCC requesting account-related documents and subsequently responded through a letter dated February 4, 2026, addressed to the Executive Chairman of the commission.
Okutepa thereafter applied to tender the bank’s response and accompanying documents in evidence.
Defence counsel, Adedayo Adedeji, SAN, reserved his objection until the final written address, after which Justice Abdulmalik admitted the documents in evidence and marked them as Exhibit E series.
Explaining the contents of the exhibit, the witness said, “Page one is the forwarding letter, page two is the certificate of identification, pages three to 25 are the account opening documents, while pages 26 to 30 are the statement of account of Alkausar Farm.”
While reviewing the account statement, Anas identified several inflows and outflows.
She told the court that on June 13, 2018, the account received a cash deposit of ₦1 million from Hassan Aliyu, while on June 20, 2018, another cash deposit of ₦2.25 million was received from Aliyu Mohammed.
The witness further testified that on December 7, 2018, the account received multiple inflows from Kalamu Wahid Global Concept, including four separate transfers of ₦10 million each and an additional transfer of ₦8 million on the same day.
She also told the court that on December 18, 2018, the account recorded a debit transfer of ₦45.5 million to Donaliv Global Nigeria Limited.
According to her, the account received ₦26.25 million from Al-Afiya Energy Limited on July 13, 2020, and another ₦26.25 million from the same company on July 22, 2020.
Anas further testified that on July 24, 2020, the account recorded a transfer debit of ₦50 million to Sahad Stores Limited and another transfer debit of ₦1 million to Alfagai Jewelry Nigeria Limited.
She added that on August 12, 2020, the account received a transfer credit of ₦2.03 million, and that a cheque withdrawal of the same amount was made that day by one Aliyu Mohammed Hassan.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel, the witness confirmed that she did not appear before the court pursuant to a subpoena.
Asked whether she knew the purpose of the inflows and outflows reflected in the account statement, she replied, “Yes, we know because we monitor and report to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit if the transactions are suspicious.”
There was no re-examination by the prosecution, and the witness was subsequently discharged.
Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the matter until July 17, 2026, for continuation of trial.
Malami, his wife and son were re-arraigned on February 27 on the alleged money laundering charge and pleaded not guilty.
They were thereafter remanded in Kuje and Suleja Correctional Centres pending the hearing of their bail application.
On March 6, Justice Abdulmalik admitted each of the defendants to bail in the sum of ₦200 million with two sureties each in like sum.
The judge ordered that one of the sureties must deposit title documents of a landed property located in either Maitama or Asokoro Districts of Abuja with the court registrar.
The court also ordered the defendants to deposit their international passports with the court.
