Abdulrasheed Maina, the former head of the Pension Reformed Task Team, was sentenced to eight years in prison by the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday, 08th November, 2021.
In a verdict handed out by Justice Okon Abang, Maina was found guilty of money laundering.
This comes just a month after Maina’s son, Faisal, was found guilty of money laundering involving N58.1 million in public monies and was sentenced to fourteen years in prison.
Maina only summoned one witness to his defense when he had the ability to call as many as he wanted, according to the court. He was found guilty of disguising his genuine name as a signatory to accounts opened with UBA and Fidelity Bank.
According to the court, he utilized his family members’ identities without their knowledge. Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), standing in as the prosecutor, presented vital evidence through witnesses to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Maina is guilty of money laundering in the amount of N171,099,000, according to the court.
The bank accounts included deposits of N300 million, N500 million, and N1.5 billion, according to the court. Maina stole money designated for retirees, according to the court, because he couldn’t prove where he received it.
The court also found Maina guilty of purchasing a property in Abuja for $1.4 million in cash, above the statutory threshold of N5 million and without going through a financial institution.
Maina’s salary and emoluments as a civil worker, according to Justice Abang, will not amount to all these funds in accounts affiliated to him. This, the court described as a criminal violation.
Source: TheGuardian
Abeeb Lekan Sodiq is a Managing Editor & Writer at theafricandream.net. He is as well a Graphics Designer and also known as Arakunrin Lekan.
