Court jails fugitive son of Maina, Faisal, 14 years for fraud
The 21 year old son of former chairperson of the defunct Pension Reform Taskforce Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, Faisal Maina has been sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment by the Federal High Court, Abuja, having being found guilty on all the three counts of money laundering involving N58.1million in public funds.
Penpushing reports that Justice Okon Abang, jailed Faisal whose father earlier jumped bail as he is also facing separate set of money laundering charges involving N2billon before the same court.
The judge jailed the junior Maina for 14 years on count 2 and for five years on each of counts 1 and 3, while the sentences are to run concurrently, implying that the convict who is believed to have fled from Nigeria, would spend 14 years which is the longest jail terms imposed by the judge in prison.
Penpushing further reports that Faisal was absent from court when the judge read the judgement convicting him on all the three counts and sentencing him, while the judge declared that the agency proved beyond reasonable doubt that the convict operated a fictitious bank account with the United Bank for Africa(UBA) through which his father, laundered the sum of N58.1million.
The court noted that the funds deposited into the account that was operated in the name of Alhaji Faisal Farm 2 were sequentially withdrawn by the convict and his father, between October 2013 and June 2019.
Penpushing reports that, the court held that the anti-corruption agency proved all the essential ingredients of the charge, adding that, the defendant reasonably ought to have known that inflows into the bank account formed proceeds of an unlawful act of corruption by his father
The court in addition, ordered that Faisal, who had since June 24, 2020, been declared a fugitive after jumping bail, should be arrested anywhere he is found in Nigeria and remanded in any correctional service center to serve his jail term.
Penpushing further reports that, the judge held that in the event the convict was traced to anywhere outside the shores of Nigeria, the federal government shall legally or lawfully commence extradition process to bring him into the country to serve the jail term.
The court in addition ordered that the company through which the fund was laundered, Alhaji Faisal Farm 2, be wound up, with funds in it forfeited to the government.
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