The Federal Government has filed 16 counts of alleged money laundering amounting to ₦1.014 billion against a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, and his son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Also named as a co-defendant is Hajia Bashir Asabe, who is described in the charge as an employee of Rahamaniyya Properties Limited.
According to the charge sheet, the defendants are accused of laundering and concealing ₦1,014,848,500, allegedly traced to a commercial bank account, through a series of transactions spanning several years.
The prosecution alleges that between July 2022 and June 2025, the defendants procured Metropolitan Auto Tech Limited as a front to conceal the unlawful origin, ownership, and movement of funds reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
The Federal Government further alleges that Malami and his co-defendants used the company and related entities to disguise funds through property acquisitions, loan collateral arrangements, and complex banking transactions in Abuja and other parts of the country.
Several of the charges relate to alleged property purchases in Maitama, Asokoro, Jabi, Gwarimpa, Garki, Kano, and Birnin Kebbi, involving payments allegedly running into hundreds of millions of naira. These include luxury duplexes, hotels, residential properties, commercial plazas, and large parcels of land.
The charge also alleges that the defendants retained large sums as cash collateral for bank loans, conspired to disguise ownership of assets, and indirectly acquired properties using proceeds suspected to be unlawful.
The offences are said to contravene various provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended) and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, including Sections 15, 18, and 21, which prescribe penalties for concealment, retention, conversion, and conspiracy relating to proceeds of crime.
In one of the counts, the government alleges that while serving as Attorney-General, Malami and others knowingly concealed proceeds of unlawful activity through coordinated transactions involving real estate purchases and third-party companies.
Malami served as Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice from 2015 to 2023 under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
No date has yet been fixed for the defendants to be arraigned.
