Former chairman of the defunct Pension Reformed Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, has been found guilty of money laundering by the Federal High Court in Abuja.
In a judgment on Monday, Justice Okon Abang held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has produced enough essential evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Maina is guilty of laundering the sum of N171,099,000.
The court said Maina called only one witness when he could have called as many witnesses to his defense.
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Maina was found guilty of concealing his true identity as a signatory to accounts opened in UBA and Fidelity banks and using the identity of his family members without their knowledge.
The accounts had cash deposits of N300million, N500million, and N1.5billion.
Justice Obong held that Maina embezzled monies originally meant for pensioners, as he could not prove the source of the cash.
The judge argued that Maina’s salary and emoluments as a civil servant would not amount to all the money in the aforementioned accounts.
Maina was also found guilty of purchasing a property in Abuja for the sum of $1.4million paid for in cash.
“I find the defendant (Mr Maina) guilty and convicted in count 2, 6, 9, 3, 7 and 10,” Justice Obong said.
The sum for the property is adjudged to be above the statutory threshold of N5million and Maina carried out the transaction without passing through a financial institution, which is a criminal offense.
Recall that Maina’s son, Faisal, was jailed by the court about a month ago, after being found guilty on three counts of money laundering involving N58.1million in public funds.
Maina’s firm, Common Input Property and Investment Limited was also tried for laundering over N1billion, among other offenses.
The embattled Maina had twice jumped bail in the course of his trial. He was recently arrested in Niamey, Niger Republic.
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