The Court of Appeal in Abuja has confirmed the verdict of a lower court, sentencing the former chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Abdulrasheed Maina, to eight years in prison for laundering approximately N2.1 billion.
Maina was on October 25, 2019 arraigned on 12-count charges alongside his son, Faisal, on three-count charges bordering on money laundering and concealment of proceeds of unlawful act.
The three-judge panel of the court unanimously agreed with the November 8, 2021 judgement issued by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which found Maina guilty of the charges.
Justice Elfreda Williams-Daudu, in the leading judgement, also upheld the multiple interlocutory rulings delivered during the trial at the Federal High Court, which were appealed by Maina.
In addressing both concerns, Justice Williams-Dawodu concluded that the trial court did not deprive Maina of a just and impartial hearing, and that the prosecution had satisfactorily established its case beyond any reasonable doubt.