Money Laundering: Maina collapses in court

A former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reformed Taskforce Team, Abdulrasheed Maina,who is facing money laundering charges, collapsed in the dock during the resumed hearing in his trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Thursday.

The Thursday’s sitting was scheduled for the hearing of the defendant’s no-case submission, following the close of the prosecution’s case with nine witnesses earlier on Wednesday.

Maina slumped shortly after the court resumed proceedings in the 12-count charge the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, preferred against him and his firm, Common Input Property and Investment Limited.

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After the EFCC closed its case with nine witnesses on Wednesday, Maina had secured permission of the court to enter a no-case-submission to the charges against him.

However, when the case was called on Thursday, Maina’s lawyer, Mr. Anayo Adibe, told the court that his client would not be able to proceed with his application.

Adibe said he was unable to prepare the no-case-submission owing to the fact that he had yet to receive the records of proceedings requested from the court’s registry.
The defence lawyer was briefing the judge, Justice Okon Abang, when a loud thud of Maina’s fall drew attention to the dock.

Prison officials immediately rushed to him to attend to him, and this development forced trial Justice Abang to suspend sitting.

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EFCC had in the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/256/2019, alleged that Maina used a bank account that was operated by his firm and laundered funds to the tune of about N2billion, part of which he used to acquire landed properties in Abuja.

It told the court that the Defendant used fictitious names to open and operate various bank accounts, as well as recruited his relatives that were bankers to operate fake bank accounts through which illicit funds were channeled.

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The Prosecution told the court that contrary to financial regulations, the banks, opened phony accounts for the Defendant, without conducting due diligence to ascertain the true identities of the owners. It also told the court that some of the bogus names Maina used to operate the accounts in a bid to conceal his true identity, included Aliyu Nafisatu and Dr. Abdullahi A. Fisal.

The prosecution maintained that the Defendants committed criminal offences punishable under sections 11(2) (a), 15(3), and 16(2) (c) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, and also acted in breach of the Advance Fee Fraud Act.
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