The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has affirmed the eight years of jail time for a former chairperson of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Abdulrasheed Maina, for stealing over N2 billion in pension funds.
Penpushing reports that a three-member panel of the apex court on Friday unanimously while held that Maina was not denied a fair hearing at the trial court as he alleged, and therefore affirmed the decision of the Federal High Court which earlier jailed him
The judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Okon Abang, it is recalled had in November 2021, jailed Maina after convicting him and his company, Common Input Property and Investment Ltd, on all the 12 counts of money laundering filed against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Penpushing further reports that a member of the panel of justices of the Appeal Court, Justice Elfreda Daudu-Williams, who read the lead judgement, held that it was Maina who failed to take advantage of the opportunity offered him to defend himself.
“There was no denial of fair hearing as opportunity was given to the appellant to defend himself by the lower court. Given the foregoing, it behoves on the appellant to defend himself in the money laundering allegations’, she held.
Penpushing also reports that the appeal court pointed out that there was not enough evidence in the defence given by the convict to prove that he did not commit the offence, stressing that the whole issue was resolved against the appellant and that the appeal failed
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