Alleged N8.7bn fraud: Zenith Bank filed suspicious tansaction reports on Malami — Witness tells court
Witness Testifies in N8.7 Billion Money Laundering Trial
ABUJA — A compliance officer from Zenith Bank testified Wednesday in the Federal High Court that the bank filed Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) related to transactions involving the accounts of former Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
Mashelia Arhyel Bata provided this testimony before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik in Maitama, Abuja. Malami, along with his wife, Hajia Bashir Asabe, and their son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, are facing prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on an amended 16-count charge. The charges include conspiracy, concealment, and laundering of N8.7 billion, alleged to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
During cross-examination by defense attorney Adebayo Adedeji, SAN, Bata acknowledged that the deposits in question complied with guidelines set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Nevertheless, he reaffirmed that STRs were filed in accordance with regulatory requirements.
“We did file [the STR],” he stated during his testimony.
Tension briefly surfaced during re-examination when prosecution counsel J.S. Okutepa, SAN, sought clarification on the definition of a Suspicious Transaction Report. The defense objected, arguing that there was no ambiguity in Bata’s prior statements.
Justice Abdulmalik overruled the objection after the prosecution cited Section 215(3) of the Evidence Act. Bata subsequently explained that STRs are submitted when funds are deposited in unusual or repetitive patterns. “Any deposition of funds seen in a pattern or repetitive, you must escalate it to the NFIU,” he said.
Bata clarified that, as a compliance officer, his responsibilities included managing communications with law enforcement, but he was not the account officer or relationship manager for the accounts under scrutiny.
Following Bata’s testimony, the court discharged him from duty and adjourned the trial until May 22 for further proceedings.
