Court Sentences Abdulrasheed Maina To 8 Years Imprisonment For Money Laundering

Former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reformed Taskforce Team (PRTT), Abdulrasheed Maina has been sentenced to eight years imprisonment after he was found guilty of money laundering by the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Maina was standing trial on a 12-count money laundering charge filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The EFCC had accused Maina of stealing over N2 billion meant for pensioners and using some of the stolen funds to acquire properties in Abuja.

Maina had pleaded “not guilty” to the charges. He also jumped bail twice in the course of his trial, but was arrested in Niger Republic, where he had fled.

Abdulrasheed Maina Sentenced To Prison

Delivering the judgment on Monday, the trial judge, Justice Okon Abang, 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,” Abang held.

The judge said the former PRTT chairman is guilty of concealing his true identity as a signatory to accounts opened in two banks – UBA and Fidelity bank – by using the identity of his family members without their knowledge.

These accounts had cash deposits of N300 million, N500 million, and N1.5 billion.

The judge said throughout Maina’s service as a civil servant, his salary and emoluments could not amount to the monies in these accounts.

The court also found Maina guilty of purchasing a property in Abuja, with cash, in the sum of $1.4 million, which is above the statutory threshold of N5 million and without passing through a financial institution.

This comes barely one month after Maina’s son, Faisal was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment after he was found guilty on all three counts of money laundering involving N58.1million in public funds.