A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday ruled that the the former chairman of the defunct Pension Reformed Task Team, Mr Abdulrasheed Maina is guilty of money laundering.
The Court presided over by Justice Okon Abang declared that the prosecutor being the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), proved its evidence beyond reasonable doubt through the essential evidence it produced through witnesses and therefore pronounced that Maina is guilty of money laundering in the sum of N171,099,000.
Justice Abang noted that Maina could only call a witness to his defense when he had the opportunity to call as many as he could.
The trial judge further ruled that Maina is guilty of concealing his true identity as a signatory to accounts opened in two banks namely, the United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Fidelity bank by using the identity of his family members without their consent and knowledge.
The Court noted that the accounts had cash deposits of N300million, N500million and N1.5billion
Justice Abang pointedly declared that Maina stole monies meant for pensioners as he could not prove where he got the money from, adding that all through Maina’s service as a civil servant, his salary and emoluments will not amount to the monies in the accounts.
The Court also found Maina guilty for the purchase of a property in Abuja paid in cash in the sum of $1.4million which the Judge said is above the statutory threshold of N5million and without passing through a financial institution and therefore declared that the act is a criminal offense.
