Abdulrasheed Maina, the former chairman of the now-defunct Pension Reforms Task Team, was sentenced to 61 years in prison by Justice Okon Abang of a Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday.
His sentence will run concurrently for eight years. The court found him guilty of money laundering and inducing Fidelity Bank employees to open bank accounts for him without conducting due diligence.
Justice Abang, who delivered the verdict, also found him guilty of using the identities of his family members without their knowledge to conceal his true identity as a signatory to accounts opened with UBA and Fidelity Bank.
Cash deposits of N300 million, N500 million, and N1.5 billion were said to be in these accounts.
Maina stole money meant for pensioners, according to the court, because he couldn't prove where he got it.
Maina's salary and emoluments as a civil servant, according to Justice Abang, would not amount to the funds in these accounts.
The court also found that the prosecution (the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) produced sufficient evidence through witnesses called to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Maina was also guilty of money laundering in the amount of N171,099,000. The court ruled that this was part of the proceeds of an illegal act.
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