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Revealed! How Former Pension Boss, Maina Operated N2billion Illegal Accounts
Posted by Lolade on Thu 05th Nov, 2015 - tori.ngBarely a week after the EFCC declared the ex pension boss, Abdulrasheed Maina wanted for money laundering allegations, a banker has come forward to give evidence of the series of illegal account owned by the former pension chief.
Abdulrasheed Maina
A banker named Toyin Meseke, has told detectives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission that she ran five accounts used to perpetrate a N2billion pension fraud in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
Maina was on Monday, November 2, declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the alleged pension fraud.
The EFCC is probing Maina’s alleged involvement in the operation of the accounts, following the confessions of Fidelity Bank Account Officer Toyin Meseke.
Meseke told the EFCC that Maina had been operating a safe deposit box with the bank.
EFCC’s investigators found that withdrawals from the five accounts were usually channelled through some bureaux de change to an account in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
A document obtained by the Nation's correspondent identified the accounts as Cluster Logistics, Nafisatu Aliyu, Abdullahi Faizal, Kangolo and Drew Investment.
Meseke said: “I managed Nafisatu Aliyu, Cluster Logistics and Abdullahi Faizal for Abdulrasheed Maina as soon as his brother, Khalid Aliyu, left the bank three years ago.
“Though all the three accounts do not carry Abdulrasheed Maina’s name but I carried out instruction on the accounts for him as explained to me by his brother that Abdulrasheed Maina owns all funds in the accounts before he resigned from the bank.
“He is not a signatory to the three accounts mentioned. He usually called me on my phone number -08057465698 – to carry out instruction on all the three accounts.
“And he also sent e-mail instructions through his email [email protected] to my personal email [email protected] to carry out instructions. Thereafter, he would send someone to the bank to give me a form of regularisation on the transactions done on all the three accounts.
“Sometimes when it is getting too late to regularize, I would call to remind him and asked me to come to his house in Kado to receive the regularised cheques.
“Most time, precisely on two occasions, I received the already signed regularised cheques in an enveloped sealed at the gate of his house.
“On 3/10/14, Abdulrasheed sent an instruction to debit Cluster Logistics with the sum of N15, 870, 690 and credit to a Bureau De Change account (JIEK BDC). This amount was converted to US dollars for onward delivery to him. I don’t know, I cannot remember the USD equivalent.
“Also on May 2, 2014, Abdulrasheed Maina sent a mail carrying instruction that the sum of N33, 880,000 be debited from the same Cluster Logistics and transferred to a Bureau De Change (West Waves). This was converted by the BDC customer and delivered to him.
“He scanned and sent another instruction on May 6, 2014 to me to debit Cluster Logistics with N47, 500, 00 and credit to BDC Customer, West Waves BDC who converted and sent to him.
“On the transaction that took place on July 3, 2015 in Abdullahi Faizal, he (Abdulrasheed Maina) sent an e-mail that the account be liquidated and converted to US dollars (USD). So, I got a bureau de change customer to convert the sum of N108million for him.”
Regarding accounts opened in the names of Kangolo and Drew Investment, Meseke added: “I am not sure who the account officers are. Sometimes last year, I got to know that Abdulrasheed Maina owns these accounts. I have never initiated any transaction on these accounts.”
Meanwhile, Maina’s lawyer Mrs Esther Uzoma,on Wednesday, said: “We are waiting for the amended charges which the EFCC said contained the allegations. The EFCC has been saying that Maina operated slush accounts but they have not shown us any evidence.”
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