The former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), has been charged with money laundering by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The Nation reports that Malami will be charged with 16 counts.
He was charged by the EFCC under Section 15(2)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011, as amended, and faced punishment under Section 15(3).
He is accused together with Abdulaziz, his son, and Hajia Bashir Asabe, a worker at Rahamaniyya Properties Limited.
Malami was accused of laundering over ₦9 billion to purchase upscale homes in Abuja, Kebbi, Kano, and other locations in the first of three series of charges.
The ex-AGF must explain how he obtained roughly thirty houses worth ₦212.8 billion.
According to reports, the most of them were obtained during his eight years of service in the late President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Some of the properties may be seized by the EFCC under the Non-Conviction Asset Forfeiture section of its Establishment Act.
Anyone interested has 14 days to provide justification for why the assets shouldn’t be turned over to the federal government.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has not yet given the anti-graft commission a date for the trial to start.
The charge sheet has a date of December 23, 2025.
Jibrin Okutepa (SAN) and Ekene Iheanacho (SAN), along with 14 other attorneys, will prosecute Malami in what seems to be a mother of all trials.
In compliance with the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), a minimum of ten witnesses have been brought before the court.
Malami used Metropolitan Auto Tech Limited to launder money, as the 16 charges revealed.
“That you, Abubakar Malami SAN, and Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, between July 2022 and June, 2025 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did procure Metropolitan Auto Tech Limited to conceal the unlawful origin of the total sum of ₦1, 014, 848, 500.00 (One Billion, Fourteen Million, Eight Hundred and Forty Eight Thousand Five Hundred Naira) in the Sterling Bank Plc Account No. 0079182387. As a result, you violated Section 21(c) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022.
“That between September 2020 and February 2021 in Abuja, under the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, you, Abubakar Malami SAN, as Attorney-General of the Federation, and Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, obtained Metropolitan Auto Tech Limited to conceal the unlawful origin of the total sum of ₦600,013,460.4 in the Sterling Bank Plc Account No. 007918(c) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011 as amended by Act No. 1 of 2012).
“That you, Abubakar Malami SAN, while serving as the Attorney-General of the Federation and Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, retained the entire amount of ₦600,000,000.00 in Metropolitan Auto Tech Limited as cash collateral for a loan of ₦500,000,000.00 granted to RAYHAAN HOTELS LTD, and you thereby committed an offence against Section 18(c) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011 as amended, which is punishable under section 15(
“That you, Abubakar Malami SAN, while serving as the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, and Hajia Bashir Asabe, an employee of Rahamaniyya Properties Limited, indirectly concealed the unlawful origin of the total sum of ₦500,000,000.00 paid to Efab Properties Ltd. for the purchase of property known as a luxury duplex at Amazon Street, Plot No. 3011 within Cadastral Zone A06 Maitama District, Abuja, when you had a crime that is punishable under section 18(2)(a)
