Abdulrasheed Maina, former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), has been released from prison after serving an eight-year jail term for money laundering.
Maina was held at the Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja, where he had been incarcerated following his conviction.
This newspaper gathered that the former pension boss has been out of custody for several weeks.
In November 2021, a federal high court in Abuja convicted Maina of offences bordering on money laundering involving over ₦2 billion.
He was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in October 2019, where he pleaded not guilty to a 12-count charge.
Delivering judgment, Justice Okon Abang held that Maina stole more than ₦2 billion belonging to pensioners, noting that “most of them have died without reaping the fruits of their labour.”
The trial judge found that Maina concealed his identity as a signatory to several bank accounts by using the names of family members without their knowledge, in order to launder the stolen funds.
Justice Abang convicted Maina on all 12 counts and sentenced him to eight years custody at the Nigerian Correctional Service Center in Kuje, Abuja, commencing from October 25, 2019.
Maina challenged the verdict at the Court of Appeal, but in May 2023, the appellate court upheld both his conviction and sentence, affirming the decision of the trial court.