EFCC arraigns ex-Attorney-General Malami, son, for money laundering Tuesday

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will Tuesday arraign former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami on money laundering charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

He will be arraigned alongside his son, Abubakar Malami, and Bashir Asabe, an employee of a firm linked to the former minister, Rahamaniyya Properties Ltd.

The trio will be arraigned before trial judge Emeka Nwite on 16 counts brought against them by the EFCC.

Mr Malami, who has been detained by the EFCC since 8 December, will be attending Tuesday’s proceedings from custody.

The anti-corruption agency accused the defendants of carrying out various suspicious transactions and attempting to conceal the unlawful origin of billions of naira through bank accounts and property acquisitions across Abuja, Kano, and Kebbi.

They allegedly committed the offences between 2015 and 2025, a period that includes the eight years he served as the AGF during the late former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Details of charges

The EFCC alleges that Malami, his son, and Mrs Asabe conspired to disguise the origin of funds, acquire properties indirectly, and retain sums they allegedly knew were proceeds of unlawful activity, in violation of the Money Laundering (Prohibition and Prevention) Acts of 2011 (as amended) and 2022.

In count one, the EFCC alleged that between July 2022 and June 2025, Mr Malami and his son directed Metropolitan Auto Tech Limited to conceal over N1 billion (N1,014,848,500) in a Sterling Bank account, knowing the funds were proceeds of unlawful activity.

Count two states that between September 2020 and February 2021, the duo allegedly concealed more than N600 million (N600,013,460.40) through the same company.

In count three, the commission alleged that in March 2021, Mr Malami and his son retained N600 million as cash collateral for a N500 million Sterling Bank loan to Rayhaan Hotels Ltd, despite knowing the funds were illicit.