The Federal Government has dragged Abubakar Malami, a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and his son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, before the Federal High Court in Abuja over alleged money laundering involving more than ₦1.014 billion,
It filed a 16-count charge, accusing the defendants of laundering, concealing and disguising the proceeds of unlawful activities through a complex network of companies, bank accounts and high-value property acquisitions spanning several years.
According to the charge sheet, the government alleges that Malami, his son and their associates were involved in the laundering and concealment of a total sum of ₦1,014,848,500 allegedly traced to an account domiciled with a commercial bank.
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The prosecution claims that between July 2022 and June 2025, within Abuja and the jurisdiction of the court, the defendants procured Metropolitan Auto Tech Limited to conceal the unlawful origin and movement of the funds.
The Federal Government alleges that the company was used as a front to disguise the source of the money, an act said to constitute money laundering under Nigerian law.
The alleged offences are said to be contrary to Section 21(c) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act.
Details of the charges reveal a series of transactions allegedly carried out while Malami was serving as Attorney-General of the Federation, as well as transactions said to have occurred after he left office.
In one of the counts, the government alleges that between September 2020 and February 2021, Malami and his son procured Metropolitan Auto Tech Limited to conceal ₦600,013,460.40 in a Sterling Bank account, despite allegedly knowing that the funds were proceeds of unlawful activities.
In another count, Malami is accused of retaining ₦600 million in Metropolitan Auto Tech Limited as cash collateral for a ₦500 million loan granted by Sterling Bank Plc to Rayhaan Hotels Limited in March 2021, allegedly knowing that the funds used as collateral were illicit proceeds.
The charges also detail multiple alleged property transactions in Abuja and other locations.
The prosecution claims that in November 2022, Malami, his son and Bashir Asabe, described as an employee of Rahamaniyya Properties Limited, indirectly disguised the unlawful origin of ₦500 million paid to Efab Properties Limited for the purchase of a luxury duplex on Amazon Street, Plot No. 3011, in the Maitama District of Abuja.
In another count, the defendants are accused of conspiring between November 2022 and September 2024 to disguise the origin of ₦1.049 billion paid through a Union Bank account belonging to Meethaq Hotels Limited, as well as taking indirect control of over ₦1.36 billion paid through the same company’s account between November 2022 and October 2025.
The charge sheet further lists several high-value property purchases allegedly linked to proceeds of unlawful activity. These include properties in Garki, Maitama, Asokoro, Jabi, Gwarimpa, Kano and Kebbi State, with amounts ranging from ₦120 million to ₦850 million. The government alleges that some of these properties were acquired or paid for between 2015 and 2023, during Malami’s tenure as Attorney-General, while others were allegedly purchased after he left office.
Among the properties listed are No. 3 Onitsha Crescent, Area 11, Garki; Plot 683, Jabi District; No. 3 Rhine Street, Maitama; No. 3130, Asokoro District; a property on Yakubu Gowon Crescent, Asokoro; and several residential and commercial properties in Abuja, Kano and Kebbi State.
The prosecution also alleges conspiracy among Malami, his son, Hajia Bashir Asabe and other persons said to be at large, to indirectly acquire landed properties with proceeds of unlawful activity between December 2016 and April 2022.
The charges cite violations of both the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and the earlier Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011, as amended, depending on the period in which the alleged offences were committed.
Abubakar Malami served as Nigeria’s Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice from 2015 to 2023 under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
No plea has yet been reported in the case.
