A prosecution witness on Tuesday gave details of several high-value transactions that passed through the account of Alkausar Farm, one of the entities linked to the alleged N8.7 billion money laundering charge against former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN.
Witness testimony in court
The witness, Munawwarah Salisu Anas, a Compliance Officer with Jaiz Bank Plc, gave evidence before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja as the fifth prosecution witness, PW5, in the ongoing trial of Malami, his wife Hajia Bashir Asabe, and his son Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is prosecuting the trio on a 16-count charge bordering on conspiracy, procuring, disguising, concealing, and laundering proceeds of unlawful activities to the tune of N8,713,923,759.49, contrary to 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 the witness.
Led in evidence, the witness said her responsibilities include interfacing with law enforcement agencies, including the EFCC.
She confirmed receiving correspondence from the EFCC requesting account-related documents and identified a bank response dated February 4, 2026, addressed to the Executive Chairman of the EFCC.
Prosecution counsel sought to tender the bank’s response and accompanying documents.
Defence counsel Adedayo Adedeji, SAN, reserved objection until the final written address.
Justice Abdulmalik admitted the documents in evidence and marked them as Exhibit E Series.
Transactions outlined in evidence
Explaining the exhibit, the witness said page one is the forwarding letter, page 2 is the certificate of identification, pages 3 to 25 are the account opening documents, while pages 26 to 30 are the statement of account of Alkausar Farm.
Reviewing the statement, Anas identified several inflows and outflows.
She testified that on June 13, 2018, the account received a cash deposit of N1 million from Hassan Aliyu, and on June 20, 2018, it received a cash deposit of N2.25 million from Aliyu Mohammed.
She further told the court that on December 7, 2018, the account received multiple inflows from Kalamu Wahid Global Concept, including transfers of N10 million on four occasions and an additional transfer of N8 million on the same day.
The witness also disclosed that on December 18, 2018, the account recorded a debit transfer of N45.5 million to Donaliv Global Nigeria Limited.
Continuing, Anas stated that the account received N26.25 million from Al-Afiya Energy Limited on July 13, 2020, and another N26.25 million from the same company on July 22, 2020.
She added that on July 24, 2020, the account recorded a transfer debit of N50 million to Sahad Stores Limited and a transfer debit of N1 million to Alfagai Jewelry Nigeria Limited.
The witness also told the court that on August 12, 2020, the account received a transfer credit of N2.03 million, and on the same day, a cheque withdrawal of N2.03 million was made by Aliyu Mohammed Hassan.
Cross-examination and adjournment
Under cross-examination, the witness confirmed she did not appear pursuant to a subpoena.
When asked whether she knew the purpose of the inflows and outflows, she responded: “Yes, we know because we monitor and report to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, if the transactions are suspicious.”
After cross-examination and no re-examination, the witness was discharged and the court adjourned the matter until July 17, 2026, for continuation of trial.
Case background
Malami, his wife, and son were re-arraigned on February 27 over the alleged money laundering charge but pleaded not guilty.
They were remanded in Kuje and Suleja Correctional Centres before their bail application was heard.
On March 6, Justice Abdulmalik admitted them to N200 million bail each with two sureties each in like sum.
The judge ordered that one surety must deposit title deeds of landed property located in Maitama or Asokoro Districts of Abuja with the court registrar, and that the defendants deposit their international passports with the court.
