Former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on Tuesday plead not guilty to 16-count money laundering charges wey Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) file against am.
Malami son, Abubakar Abdulaziz Malami, and im fourth wife, Bashir Asabe, wey be co-defendants for the case, also plead not guilty to all the charges when court registrar read am for court.
The defendants appear before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, for their arraignment.
According to the charge, EFCC allege say the defendants conspire at different times to conceal, retain and disguise proceeds of unlawful activities running into several billions of naira.
The anti-graft agency claim say the alleged offences span many years and involve use of different companies and bank accounts to launder funds. EFCC also allege say the defendants retain large amounts of cash as collateral for loans and use the funds to buy high-value properties for Abuja, Kano and other places.
EFCC further allege say some of the offences happen while Malami still dey serve as Attorney-General of the Federation, which violate provisions of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 (as amended) and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022.
The case don adjourn as court go continue hearing on the matter on a later date.
