The trial of erstwhile chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, resumed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, yesterday, with his younger brother, Khalid Aliyu, revealing that the defendant, paid N150milion in cash to acquire a choice property in Abuja.
Aliyu, who is Maina’s third relative to appear as a witness against him, told the court that the property which his brother purchased from one Alhaji Ali Sani, is located at the Life Camp area of the Federal Capital Territory.
He gave evidence as the 5th prosecution witness in the money laundering charge the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), preferred against the former pension reform boss.
Maina is answering to a 12-count criminal charge alongside his firm, Common Input Property & Investment Limited.
His son, Faisal, is equally facing a separate 3-count money laundering charge before the court.
The prosecution earlier produced Maina’s late brother’s wife, Mrs. Mairo Mohammed, who is a staff of the United Bank for Africa (UBA), as its star witness in the matter.
Aside from revealing that the 1st defendant deposited N3billion in the bank in 2011, the PW-1 told the court that she opened 12 different bank accounts for the ex-pension reform boss and his family members, which she said included both Naira and Dollar accounts.
Similarly, EFCC brought Maina’s younger sister, Mrs Nafisat Aliyu, to testify against him as the PW-4.
Nafisat told the court that she was not aware that her brother used her details to operate a bank account, insisting that she only got to know about it after her sister, Fatima, was arrested by the EFCC in Kaduna State.
Meanwhile, at the resumed proceeding, yesterday, Maina’s younger brother, Aliyu, who hitherto worked as a banker, confirmed to the court that her sister was indeed unaware that an account was operated in her name.
Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, Aliyu, who said he is presently a civil servant, explained that his elder brother, Maina, used him and his colleague he identified as Oluwatoyin Maseke, to open the account with his sister’s details.
He said: “I know the 1st defendant; he is my brother, Abdulrasheed Maina. We are from the same father and same mother.
“At some point, my brother requested me and my colleague Toyin Meseke, to open a savings account for my sister, Nafisat Aliyu, although she was not aware of the transaction.
“We proceeded to her house at Wuse 2 to collect her utility bill as part of the requirement to open an account.
“Later, Oluwatoyin Meseke collected a copy of her international passport from my brother to complete her account registration. This was because at that time, she was supposed to accompany our mother to the hospital. Her passport and that of my mother was with my brother for Visa processing.
“We particularly requested for the utility bill, but she was unaware of the account opening. “After we collected the documents for the purpose of the account opening, Oluwatoyin completed the account opening form and the account began transaction.
“Later my sister complained to me that she was receiving debit alert messages on her phone. I asked her to show the messages to me and later advised her to see my colleague Toyin to have her details excluded.
“Toyin Meseke was the one that was single-handedly managing the account. He is aware of most of the inflows and outflows from the account. Although the account after it was opened, was placed under my balance-sheet in order to boost my balance sheet”.
Continuing his Evidence-in-Chief, the witness said: “There is an account that my friend called Sani Musa who registered a company with the C.A.C. opened. The company is called Cluster Logistics.
“Though I wasn’t part of the registration, he sought my consent to add me as a Director in the firm. He initiated the idea of both of us as friends, to start a small scale business. My brother was aware of our intention to start the small scale business.
“Afterwards, the 1st defendant requested to use the company for verification exercise, which we agreed to. But he directed that one Abubakar Mustapha should be the sole signatory.
“Even though Abubakar Mustapha was the identification on the account opening form, the 1st defendant was the signatory.
“There is a third account by Dr. Faisal Abdullahi. The 1st defendant also requested an account by Dr. Faisal Abdullahi be opened as part of investment account for his farm proceeds.
“A man by the name Abdullahi, with a drivers licence as his identification card, provided me with documents for the account opening. The signatory to the account was also the 1st defendant”, the witness added.
On how the former pension boss bought the choice property, the witness said: “The 1st defendant sent me on errand to one Alhaji Ali Sani for payment of a property located at Life Camp. The property was of the value of N150million.
“The 1st defendant gave me the money in cash to deliver to Alhaji Sani. He gave me the money at his residence in Kado Estate, Abuja.