The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday found Abdulrasheed Maina, the former chairman of the now-defunct Pension Reformed Task Team guilty of money laundering and sentenced him to 61 years imprisonment but to run concurrently for eight years.
The court had found him guilty of inducing staff of Fidelity Bank to open bank accounts for him without conducting due diligence and money laundering.
In a judgment being delivered by Justice Okon Abang, the court held that the prosecutor, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has produced essential evidence through witnesses to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Maina is guilty of money laundering in the sum of N171,099,000.
The court added that the defendant (Maina), called only one witness to his defense when he had the opportunity to call as many as he could.
In 2019, the former pension boss was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) but pleaded not guilty to a 12-count charge of money laundering of N2 billion brought against him.
In his judgement, the trial judge held that Maina stole over N2billion pension funds.
The judge said that Maina is guilty of concealing his true identity as a signatory to accounts opened in two banks, UBA and Fidelity Bank by using the identities of his family members without their knowledge.
The accounts had cash deposits of N300 million, N500 million, and N1.5billion.
He said throughout Maina’s service as a civil servant, his salary and emoluments could not amount to the monies in those accounts.
The court also found Maina guilty of purchasing a property in Abuja, with cash, in the sum of $1.4 million, which is above the statutory threshold of N5million and without passing through a financial institution.
The court found him guilty of all 12 counts and sentenced him to eight years imprisonment.
The judge said although the law made provision for a maximum sentence of 14 years, he was moved by Maina’s plea of allocutus, a plea made to the court by a defendant who has been found guilty prior to being sentenced.
The judge held that the sentence would run concurrently, with effect from October 25, 2019, which is the date of arraignment.
The court ordered Maina and his firm, Common Input Property and Investment Limited, to forfeit about N2.1billion traced to their bank accounts to the federal government, after which the company should be wound up.
Also, the court ordered that Maina’s properties at Life Camp and Jabi Districts of Abuja should be forfeited to the government.
The convict’s bulletproof car and a BMW 5 series vehicle that was found at the premises of the convict would also be auctioned and the proceeds forfeited to the government.
Recall that last month, Justice Abang sentenced Faisal, Maina’s son, who is at large, to seven years imprisonment on a three-count charge bordering on money laundering.
Maina And Son’s Trial
A month ago, the court jailed Maina’s son, Faisal, after finding him guilty on three counts of money laundering involving N58.1million in public funds.
Maina was tried alongside his firm, Common Input Property and Investment Limited over 12 charges bordering on money laundering of over N1billion, among other offences.
He had jumped bail twice in the course of his trial and was recently arrested in Niamey, Niger Republic, where he had fled.
Upon his rearrest, he returned to court where the court ordered that he be returned to the custody of the correctional centre in Kuje until his trial was concluded.
With the development, his lawyer, Francis Oronsaye, withdrew from the case while his new lawyer, Anayo Adibe, filed another bail application.
However, in a ruling on February 28, Justice Abang refused to grant the application on the grounds that it was without merit and that Maina failed to place sufficient materials before the court to convince it that he deserved another bail.
He held that Maina did not deserve to be admitted to bail again after violating the conditions of the bail granted him earlier and later adjourned the matter.
