The prosecution in the trial of former Chairman of Pension Reform Task Force (PRTF), Abdulrasheed Maina, Wednesday opened its case by calling its first witness.
The witness, Mairo Mohammed, a bank manager, told the Federal High Court in Abuja that Maina paid N3 billion into her bank and opened 12 separate accounts into which funds were paid.
Led in evidence by a lawyer with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abubakar Mohammed, Mairo said: “Yes, my Lord, his name is Abdulrasheed Maina. We have a bank-customer relationship and he is a younger brother to my late husband.
“He is my brother-in-law and I know the company called Common Input Property and Investment Limited.
“I approached Maina when he was Chairman of Pension Reform Task Force and solicited for deposit, and he gave the bank a deposit of N3 billion in 2011, and the funds were moved to Treasury Single Account (TSA) with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) around 2012.
“In a bid to grow my deposit, I also approached Maina for more deposits and I opened about 12 accounts for him and his immediate family.”
When Gadzama asked for the adjournment of the matter because he was only briefed the previous day to take over the case, Justice Abang overruled him, saying the court would begin the trial. He directed the prosecution counsel, Mohammed Abubakar, to call out the first witness.
Maina is being prosecuted by the anti-graft agency on a 12-count charge bordering on “money laundering, operating fictitious bank accounts and fraud”. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges levelled against him by the EFCC.
Maina failed in his attempt to stall proceedings by calling for an adjournment, which the court refused to grant. Justice Abang directed the prosecution counsel to open call its case by calling witnesses.
NAN
