The conviction and eight-year term given to Abdulrasheed Maina, the former chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, for laundering over N2.1 billion, have been confirmed by the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
A three-member panel delivered the decision and unanimously upheld the conviction and sentence imposed on him on November 8, 2021, as stated in the judgement read by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
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. 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.
Maina was sentenced in November 2021 after being found guilty of money laundering. He was also found guilty of exploiting his family members’ identities as signatories to accounts made at UBA and Fidelity Bank without their consent, hiding his genuine identity.
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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the prosecution, has supplied crucial evidence through witnesses to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Maina is guilty of money laundering in the amount of N171,099,000, according to Justice Okon Abang of the Abuja High Court, who delivered the ruling.
Cash deposits of N300,000,000, N500,000,000, and N1.5 Billion were made into these accounts.
The court decided that Maina misappropriated funds intended for retirees since he was unable to show where he obtained them. The court also declared Maina guilty of committing a criminal offence by paying cash in the amount of $1.4 million to purchase a home in Abuja, which is above the legal limit of N5 million and did not go through a financial institution.
