A COMPLIANCE officer with Zenith Bank Plc, Mashelia Bata, on Wednesday told the Federal High Court in Abuja that the bank filed a suspicious transaction report (STR) over transactions linked to an account associated with former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
News Point Nigeria reports that Bata appeared before the court in the ongoing trial involving Malami, his wife, and son over alleged money laundering amounting to N8.7 billion.
The defendants are facing a 16-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering and had all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
According to a statement released by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Zenith Bank compliance officer was cross-examined by Adebayo Adedeji, counsel to the defendants.
During cross-examination, the witness admitted that the deposits reflected in the account statements complied with the guidelines of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
However, Bata stated that despite compliance with regulatory guidelines, the bank still considered it necessary to file a suspicious transaction report concerning the deposits.
The witness explained that the report was filed because of the repetitive pattern observed in the transactions.
During proceedings, counsel to the EFCC, Jibrin Okutepa, asked the witness to explain the meaning of a suspicious transaction report.
But the defence counsel, Adedeji, objected to the question, arguing that the term was not ambiguous and therefore required no further explanation.
Responding to the objection, Okutepa argued that Section 215(3) of the Evidence Act did not prevent him from re-examining the witness and urged the court to permit the question for proper clarification.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, the presiding judge, overruled the objection raised by the defence and allowed the witness to respond.
Explaining the concept to the court, the compliance officer said banks are mandated to escalate repetitive or suspicious deposit patterns to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.
“Any deposition of funds seen in a pattern or repetitive, you must escalate it to the NFIU,” the witness told the court.
Following his testimony, Bata was discharged from the witness box.
Justice Abdulmalik subsequently adjourned the matter until May 22 for continuation of trial.