The heavy hammer of the law finally landed on the head of Abdulrasheed Maina, former chairman of the defunct Pension Reformed Task Team as a Federal High Court, in Abuja, sentenced him to eight years imprisonment.
It was the end of the road for the pension thief, who once tried to run from the law before he was re-captured in Niger Republic where he had sought sanctuary to escape punishment for his crime. But he was smoked out of his hellhole in Niamey on November 30, 2020, through a major collaboration between the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerien Police, and the Interpol.
On Monday, justice was served to the former fugitive as he was convicted for money laundering.
Delivering judgement in the case, Justice Okon Abang held that the prosecutor, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), had proved, beyond reasonable doubt, that Maina laundered N171,099,000.
The pension thief was also found guilty of concealing his true identity as a signatory to accounts he operated through proxy in the United Bank for Africa, UBA, and Fidelity Bank. Maina used the identity of his family members to operate the two accounts without their knowledge.
The accounts had cash deposits of N300million, N500million, and N1.5billion respectively.
The court firmly held that Abdulrasheed Maina stole monies meant for pensioners as he could not prove the source of the humongous sums.
The court also found Maina guilty of purchasing a property in Abuja for which he paid US$1.4million, an amount far above the statutory threshold of N5million and he never passed through any financial institution; an act the court described as a criminal offence.
Even so, Maina’s march to prison was not devoid of drama on Monday as EFCC operatives and security officials from Maina’s new home, Kuje Correctional Centre, squabbled openly outside the court premises over where the convict should be remanded.
Meanwhile, while delivering judgement, Justice Okon Abang had ruled that the correctional center was competent to take care of whatever health challenge Maina may have.
As the dust settled and the convict was driven to Kuje Correctional Centre, his counsel, Mr. Olusegun Jolaawo, told journalists that they will appeal the judgement.