Alleged N8.7bn Fraud: Witness Tells Court Zenith Bank Flagged Malami’s Suspicious Transactions

A prosecution witness in the alleged N8.7 billion money laundering trial of the immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on Wednesday, told a Federal High Court, Abuja that the Zenith Bank filed Suspicious Transaction Reports on transactions linked to the former minister’s accounts.

“I am a compliance officer at Zenith Bank,” Mashelia Arhyel Bata testified before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja.

Malami is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission with his wife, Hajia Bashir Asabe, and his son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, on an amended 16-count charge bordering on alleged conspiracy, concealment and laundering of N8.7 billion said to be proceeds of unlawful activities.

In his cross-examination by the defence counsel, the witness, Adebayo Adedeji, SAN, admitted that the deposits reflected in the account statements were in accordance with the guidelines of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He said, however, the bank continued to file Suspicious Transaction Reports as required by regulators.

“But we had to file Suspicious Transaction Report. “We did file,” the witness told the court.

There was some little drama during re-examination when the prosecution counsel, J.S. Okutepa, SAN, asked the witness to explain what a Suspicious Transaction Report was.

The defence objected to the question, saying that there was no ambiguity in the earlier testimony of the witness that needed clarification.

The objection, however, was overruled by Justice Abdulmalik when the prosecution cited section 215(3) of the Evidence Act.

The witness added that “suspicious transaction reports are normally filed when funds are deposited in repetitive or unusual patterns.”

“You must flag to the NFIU any deposit of funds that you see in a pattern or repetitive,” he said.

The witness further testified that his duties as a compliance officer were to answer correspondence from law enforcement agencies, and that he was not the account officer or the relationship manager for the accounts under investigation.

After hearing the testimony, the court discharged the witness and adjourned the matter till May 22 for continuation of trial.