Home Exclusive Pension boss Abdulrasheed Maina found guilty on money laundering charges

Pension boss Abdulrasheed Maina found guilty on money laundering charges

by Our Reporter
The chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Abdulrasheed Maina, has been found guilty on money laundering charges by the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
In a judgement still being delivered on by Justice Okon Abang, the court held that Mr Maina stole over N2 billion belonging to Pensioners, “most of whom have died without reaping the fruits of their labour.
“I find the defendant (Mr Maina) guilty and convicted in count 2, 6, 9, 3, 7 and 10,” Mr Abang held.
The court had earlier jailed Mr Maina’s son, Faisal, after finding him guilty on all three counts of money laundering involving N58.1million in public funds.

Faisal had been arrested by security operatives after pulling a pistol in an attempt to resit arrest.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned Mr Maina before on October 25, 2019 alongside a company, Common Input Property and Investment Ltd.

Maina was tried on a 12-count money laundering charge filed against him by the EFCC.
Part of the allegations against him is that he used his firm to launder N2 billion and also used some of it to acquire properties in Abuja.

He had pleaded “not guilty” to the charges.

Maina had jumped bail twice in the course of the trial. He was recently arrested in Niamey, Niger Republic, where he had fled.

In the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/256/2019, EFCC alleged that Maina used fictitious names to open and operate various bank accounts, as well as recruited his relatives that were bankers to operate fake bank accounts through which illicit funds were channelled.

The verdict is ongoing, as the judge said, “it’s a long judgement, which I don’t want to scare counsel.”

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