Abdulrasheed Maina was convicted after he was found guilty of money laundering.
He was also found guilty of concealing his true identity, as a signatory to accounts opened in two banks – UBA and Fidelity – by using the identity of his family members without their knowledge.
These accounts had cash deposits of ₦300 million, ₦500 million, and ₦1.5 billion.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld the conviction and eight-year sentence imposed on the former Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina for laundering about ₦2.1 billion.
On November 8, 2021, Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja read the verdict, which was unanimously upheld by the three-member panel that delivered the decision.
Justice Elfreda Williams-Daudu upheld the several interlocutory rulings made during the trial at the Federal High Court, which Maina appealed against, in the lead judgement.
Also, the judge who decided the two points against Maina ruled that the trial court had not given the appellant a fair hearing and that the prosecution had established its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
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Delivering judgement, Justice Okon Abang of the Abuja High Court held that the prosecutor, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had produced essential evidence through witnesses to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Maina is guilty of money laundering in the sum of ₦171,099,000.
Criminal Offense
Also, the court held that Maina stole monies meant for pensioners as he could not prove where he got them from.
The court also found Maina guilty for the purchase of a property in Abuja paid in cash in the sum of $1.4million.
According to the court, this amount is above the statutory threshold of ₦5million.
Also, the payment did not pass through a financial institution.
This is a criminal offense.
