The Federal High Court in Abuja has remanded former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, alongside his son, Abdulaziz, and one of his wives, Hajia Bashir Asabe, in prison custody over an alleged ₦9 billion money laundering case.
Trial Justice Joyce Abdulmalik ordered their remand after they were re-arraigned on a 16-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, accusing them of laundering public funds totalling about ₦9bn.
The court directed that Malami and his son be kept at Kuje prison, while Asabe was remanded at Suleja prison in Niger State, pending the hearing of their bail applications scheduled for March 6.
Defence counsel, Joseph Daudu, SAN, urged the court to allow the defendants to continue on the bail earlier granted to them on January 7 by Justice Emeka Nwite, who initially handled the matter as a vacation judge.
However, EFCC counsel, Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, confirmed that although the bail conditions had been perfected, the case had commenced afresh before Justice Abdulmalik.
Justice Abdulmalik held that proceedings conducted before Justice Nwite had legally terminated and insisted that the defendants must file fresh bail applications before her court, rejecting efforts by the defence to make oral applications.
According to the EFCC, Malami, who served as Justice Minister under former President Muhammadu Buhari from November 11, 2015, to May 29, 2023, allegedly used companies, including Metropolitan Auto Tech Limited and Rayhaan Hotels Ltd, to conceal and retain funds suspected to be proceeds of crime through Sterling Bank accounts.
The anti-graft agency further alleged that the defendants breached provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011, involving sums such as ₦1.01bn and ₦600m, and disclosed that investigators, bank officials, real estate agents and Bureau de Change operators are expected to testify, even as Malami also faces separate charges of terrorism financing and illegal possession of firearms filed by the Department of State Services.
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