ABUJA, Nigeria — The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested Faisal Abdulrasheed Maina, son of former Pension Reform Task Team chairman Abdulrasheed Maina, after years on the run, and handed him over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Faisal was reportedly arrested in the Karsana area of Abuja after intelligence indicated that he had secretly returned to Nigeria. He had been at large since 2020 after allegedly violating his bail conditions and fleeing the country while facing money laundering charges.
The EFCC had prosecuted Faisal on a three-count charge bordering on money laundering and conspiracy. In October 2021, the Federal High Court in Abuja convicted him and sentenced him to 14 years’ imprisonment.
The trial judge, Justice Okon Abang, found that Faisal operated an account with United Bank for Africa through which ₦58.1 million was allegedly laundered. The funds were reportedly deposited into an account operated under the name “Alhaji Faisal Farm 2” and withdrawn by Faisal and his father between October 2013 and June 2019.
However, in November 2022, the Court of Appeal upheld Faisal’s conviction but reduced his sentence from 14 years to seven years, ruling that the maximum sentence imposed by the trial court was inappropriate for a first-time offender.
Following his arrest, the EFCC confirmed that it had taken custody of Faisal. The commission’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said a necessary court order would be obtained to transfer him to a correctional centre to serve his sentence.
The arrest marks a major development in efforts to enforce the judgment against Faisal after years of evading the legal process.
His father, Abdulrasheed Maina, the former head of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, was separately convicted in a money laundering case involving approximately ₦2 billion in pension funds and sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment.
The cases against father and son are separate, with Faisal’s current custody and the enforcement of his sentence now expected to proceed through the appropriate legal procedures.
