Abdulrashid Abdullahi Maina's Trial Resumes In Abuja

The trial of Abdulrashid Abdullahi Maina a former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), has begun in Abuja.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) ensured Maina was in the court having being extradited to Nigeria from the Niger Republic by the Interpol.

Recall that the Nigeria Police Force on Thursday noon extradited Abdulrashid Abdullahi Maina to Nigeria from Niamey, Niger Republic, where he was arrested having been declared wanted by a court of competent jurisdiction over a pending criminal trial against him.

Maina was arrested on 30th November 2020 through the collaborative efforts of the operatives of the Nigeria Police Force, INTERPOL NCB, Abuja, and their Nigerien counterpart.

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The team from INTERPOL Nigeria, led by the Commissioner of Police INTERPOL, CP Garba Umar, having completed the necessary documentation requirements and other extradition processes, flew the wanted former Pension Boss, Maina into Nigeria aboard an NPF Jet 5N-HAR and landed at exactly 1417Hrs (Nigerian Time).”

Maina is facing a 12-count money laundering charge filed against him by the EFCC.

Part of the allegations against him is that he used his firm to launder N2 billion and also used some of it to acquire properties in Abuja.

EFCC Witness Says Abdulrashid Abdullahi Maina Bought $2m Property In Abuja, Dubai, USA

The prosecution witness nine (PW9), Rouqayyah Ibrahim, testified at the Federal High Court, Abuja, presided over by Justice Okong Abang.

Ibrahim narrated how Maina acquired properties in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), United States of America, and a $2million property in Jabi, Abuja.

The EFCC detective revealed that a prosecution witness, Adamu Modibbo, who testified regarding the Jabi property, allegedly died of COVID-19 after his statement to the commission.

Ibrahim said that about 32 documents, hard discs and flash drives relating to properties linked to Maina, his family and details of some of his investments in Dubai and in the US were recovered by Modibbo.

According to the EFCC, Maina’s company, Northrich Company owned over 50 cars that were used for transportation business. He owns a villa in a High Ground area in Dubai.

Furthermore, his wife, Laila Abdulrasheed, owns cleaning services, called Spotless and Flawless.

The witness said another of Maina’s company, Kangolo Dynamic, does no business but that the defendant created a bank account for it.

His name did not appear on the account documentation even though he was in control of all the deposits.

She informed the court that Colster Logistics, belonging to Maina, had a dollar account which had an inflow of over $400,000 from cash deposits at the time the company was investigated.

Ibrahim said over N500million was discovered in the account of Kangolo Dynamic, within the years Maina was PRTT Chairman.

In the course of the investigation, EFCC wrote letters to the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to verify the authenticity of the driver’s license used in opening some of the accounts, and Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) for Maina’s declared assets.

Others are Federal Civil Service Commission, and Office of the Head of Service of the Federation (HOSF), and Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), to confirm if Maina was still a civil servant and for his pay slips.

Similarly, requests were made to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for the tax returns of his companies, and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) for the registration documentation of the firms and annual returns.

Documents and written responses of the government agencies were tendered as exhibits.

M. S. Abubakar, the prosecution counsel, prayed the court to foreclose the right of the defendants to respond to the admissibility of the documents.

Justice Abang upheld, noting that the defendants failed to use the opportunity offered to oppose the admissibility.