A prosecution witness in the alleged N8.7bn money laundering trial involving former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on Wednesday told the Federal High Court in Abuja that Zenith Bank flagged transactions linked to the ex-minister’s accounts as suspicious.
The witness, Mashelia Arhyel Bata, a compliance officer with the bank, disclosed this while testifying before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik at the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja.
Malami is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission alongside his wife, Hajia Bashir Asabe, and his son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, over an amended 16-count charge bordering on conspiracy, concealment and laundering of alleged proceeds of unlawful activities amounting to N8.7bn.
During cross-examination by defence counsel, Adebayo Adedeji (SAN), the witness admitted that the transactions reflected in the account statements complied with the guidelines of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
He, however, stated that the bank was still obligated to file a report on the transactions.
“But we had to file a Suspicious Transaction Report. We did file,” the witness told the court.
Proceedings briefly witnessed drama during re-examination when prosecuting counsel, J.S. Okutepa (SAN), asked the witness to explain what qualifies as a suspicious transaction report.
The defence objected to the question, arguing that the witness’ earlier testimony was clear and required no further explanation.
Justice Abdulmalik, however, overruled the objection after the prosecution relied on Section 215(3) of the Evidence Act to justify the line of questioning.
Explaining further, the witness said, “Any deposition of funds seen in a pattern or repetitive, you must escalate it to the NFIU.”
The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit is the agency responsible for analysing and disseminating intelligence related to money laundering and terrorism financing.
Bata also clarified that his duties as a compliance officer were limited to handling correspondence from law enforcement agencies, adding that he neither managed the accounts nor served as the relationship officer to the customers involved in the case.
Following his testimony, the court discharged the witness and adjourned the matter until May 22 for continuation of trial proceedings.
