The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested Faisal Abdulrasheed Maina, son of former Pension Reform Task Team chairman, Abdulrasheed Maina, and transferred him to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Faisal was reportedly arrested in the Karsana area of Abuja after security operatives received intelligence that he had secretly returned to Nigeria.
A security source said the arrest followed credible information about his return to the country.
Faisal had been on the run since 2020 after the EFCC charged him with a three-count offence bordering on money laundering and conspiracy. He reportedly fled Nigeria after allegedly violating his bail conditions while the trial was ongoing.
In October 2021, the Federal High Court in Abuja convicted him in absentia and sentenced him to 14 years’ imprisonment for money laundering.
The trial judge, Justice Okon Abang, held that the EFCC had established that Faisal operated a fictitious bank account with United Bank for Africa (UBA), which was allegedly used by his father to launder N58.1 million.
The court found that the money was deposited into an account bearing the name “Alhaji Faisal Farm 2” and withdrawn by Faisal and his father between October 2013 and June 2019.
Following the conviction, the court ordered that Faisal be arrested wherever he was found in Nigeria and remanded in a correctional facility to serve his sentence. It also directed the Federal Government to take lawful steps to secure his extradition if he was located outside the country.
However, in November 2022, the Court of Appeal upheld his conviction but reduced his sentence from 14 years to seven years, ruling that the trial court should not have imposed the maximum sentence on a first-time offender.
His arrest and transfer to the EFCC are expected to enable the commission to take steps towards enforcing the appellate court’s judgment and ensuring that he serves his sentence.
Faisal’s father, Abdulrasheed Maina, was convicted in connection with the laundering of N2 billion in pension funds. He served an eight-year prison sentence at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja before being released earlier in 2026.
Maina was subsequently declared wanted over an alleged case of receiving stolen property.
