A former chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team Abdulrasheed Maina has been found guilty of inducing staff of fidelity bank to open bank accounts for him without conducting the requisite due diligence.
The court also found Mr. Maina guilty of concealing his true identity as signatory to accounts opened in UBA and Fidelity bank by using the identity of his family members without their knowledge.
These accounts had cash deposits of N300million, N500million and 1.5billion.
The court held that Mr. Maina stole monies meant for Pensioners as he could not prove where he got them from.
Justice Okon Abang also held that through Mr Maina’s service as a civil servant his salary and emoluments would not amount to the monies in these accounts.
The court further submitted that the prosecution produced essential evidence through witnesses called to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Maina is also guilty of Money laundering in sum of more than one hundred and seventy one million naira.
This formed part of the proceeds of unlawful act.
The defendants called only one witness to his defense when he had the opportunity to call as many as he could.
The evidence in chief of the witness did not help the defendant as they did not relate to the charges against the defendants.
Mr Maina was also found guilty and convicted for paying $1.4 million in cash for a property in Abuja, which is more than the statutory threshold of N5 million and without going through a financial institution, which is a criminal crime.
Mr. Maina apologised to the court for his acts, adding that his health is failing as doctors have identified three tumors in his body, one of which is malignant and requires immediate surgery.
