November 24, (THEWILL) – The Court of Appeal, Abuja, on Thursday, upheld the conviction of Faisal Maina, son of the erstwhile chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Abdulrasheed Maina, for conspiracy and money laundering.
Maina, the former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Taskforce Team, is serving an eight-year jail term at Kuje Prison in Abuja for pension fraud to the tune of N2 billion.
THEWILL recalls that a Federal High Court in Abuja had sentenced Faisal to 14 years imprisonment.
The trial judge, Okon Abang, had jailed Faisal, after finding him guilty of all three counts of money laundering involving N58.1 million in public funds.
Leading a three-member panel of the appellate court on Thursday, Justice Ugochukwu Ogakwu, affirmed his conviction by Justice Abang.
The court, however, reduced his jail term from 14 to seven years, adding that he is a first-time offender.
“But as a first-time offender, the trial court ought not to have handed the convict the maximum punishment under the law”, Ogakwu added.
