EFCC Dock Bankers, Who Allegedly Aided Maina’s Pension Loot

By Chris Nomjov

Anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, today, announced that it had taken two bankers with Fidelity Bank, who allegedly aided the former chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina,? to launder stolen funds.

Danjuma Zubairu, Group Head of Private Banking, and Abubakar Gwambe, an account head, were arrested on Thursday following fresh evidence that they are managing proxy accounts for Mr. Maina, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Mr. Maina, who was brought in to reform the flawed pension administration system; is currently, at large after the EFCC filed charges against him for stealing billions of naira.

EFCC’s investigations revealed that the purported fraud was allegedly carried through a phony biometric exercise, that Maina ran alongside Steve Oronsaye, the former Head of Service of the Federation.

It would be recalled that in 2013, Maina was fingered in a pension fraud by the Senate joint committee on public service and establishment.

On Friday, the EFCC said they had traced N2.8 billion to numerous bank accounts used by Mr. Maina.

?”The accounts which have over time witnessed massive inflow of slush funds include two corporate and three individual accounts,” the anti graft commission said.

“The first individual account opened in the name of Abdullahi Faizer, had a turnover of N1.5billion while the other operated in the name of Nafisatu Aliyu recorded a turnover of over N100,000.

“The corporate accounts of Cluster Logistics had a turnover of N500million and $400,000 USD. Drew Investment and Construction and Kongolo Dynamics Cleaning Limited recorded turnovers of N54million and N509million respectively.”

All the five accounts, according to the EFCC, had different opening packages.

“Four of the accounts were allegedly opened by one Khalid Aliyu, a relation of Maina, who was an employee of the bank. The said Khalil is currently at large,” said the Commission.

“But investigation established that Abdulrasheed Maina is the one operating the accounts.”