The Federal High Court in Abuja has on Monday found the Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Abdulrasheed Maina guilty of money laundering charges, sentencing him to eight years in prison. In a judgment delivered by Justice Okon Abang, the court held that 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.
Justice Abang added that Maina concealed his true identity as a signatory to accounts opened in UBA and Fidelity bank with deposits of N300 million, N500 million and N1.5 billion.
The trial judge noted that through Maina's Civil service career, his salary and emoluments could not amount to the monies in those accounts.
The court also found the former PRTT chairman guilty of purchasing a property in Abuja in cash sum of $1.4 million, which is above the statutory threshold of N5million and without passing through a financial institution, describing it as a criminal offense.
Recall that in October, Justice Abang also found Maina's son, Faisal guilty on three charges of money laundering involving N58.1 million in public funds, sentencing him to 14 years imprisonment.
