UPDATED: Court sentences Maina to eight years in jail for N2 billion pension fraud

The judge ruled that Mr Maina, as a civil servant, could not have legitimately found in the bank accounts his fraudulently registered bank accounts.

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday sentenced a former chairperson of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Abdulrasheed Maina, to eight years imprisonment.

The judge, Okon Abang, jailed him after convicting him of counts 2, 6, 9, 3, 7 and 10 in the charge filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

He held that Mr Maina stole over N2 billion belonging to pensioners, “most of whom have died without reaping the fruits of their labour,” the judge said.

“I find the defendant (Mr Maina) guilty and convicted in count 2, 6, 9, 3, 7 and 10,” Mr Abang held.

In his analysis of the evidence led in the case, Mr Abang held that the prosecution established its case against Mr Maina.

According to the judge, the prosecution established that Mr Maina purchased property in Abuja with $1.4million cash without passing through a financial institution. The amount, the judge said, was far above the cash transaction threshold of N5million.

He also ruled that the prosecution proved that Mr Maina concealed his true identity as signatory to accounts opened in two new generation banks by using the identity of his family members without their knowledge.

The sums of N300million, N500million and N1.5billion which, according to the judge, were stolen by Mr Maina from pensioners, were deposited in the account.

Mr Maina could not explain the source of the money, the judge ruled, adding that the convict could not have legitimately earn the sums of money from his salary and emoluments.

The judge said the money formed part of the proceeds of unlawful act.

Background

A month ago, the court jailed Mr Maina’s son, Faisal, after finding him guilty on all three counts of money laundering involving N58.1million in public funds.

There has been no report that Faisal, who faced a trial separate from his father, has been apprehended and put in jail.

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

Mr Maina was tried on a 12-count money laundering charge filed against him by the EFCC.

He had pleaded “not guilty” to the charges.

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

PREMIUM TIMES reported how a senator, Ali Ndume, was briefly jailed after he failed to provide Mr Maina, whom he had stood surety for. Mr Ndume spent five days at the Kuje correctional centre before he was granted bail.

In the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/256/2019, EFCC alleged that Mr 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.