Faisal Maina Arrested in Abuja
Faisal Maina, son of former Pension Reform Task Team chairman Abdulrasheed Maina, has reportedly been arrested by the Department of State Services, DSS, six years after fleeing prosecution on money laundering charges.
According to TheCable, DSS operatives arrested Faisal in the Karsana area of Abuja following intelligence suggesting that he had secretly returned to Nigeria.
A source quoted by the publication said the security operatives subsequently handed him over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for further action.
Faisal had been on the run since 2020, when the EFCC arraigned him on three counts bordering on money laundering. Although he was granted bail, he reportedly breached his bail conditions and left the country.
His trial subsequently continued in his absence, culminating in his conviction by the Federal High Court in Abuja in October 2021.
The court sentenced him to 14 years in prison after finding him guilty of the money laundering charges.
In its judgment, the court held that the EFCC had established that Faisal operated a fictitious United Bank for Africa account allegedly used in connection with the laundering of 58.1 million naira linked to his father.
According to the court’s findings, the funds were deposited into an account operated in the name of “Alhaji Faisal Farm 2” and subsequently withdrawn by Faisal and his father between October 2013 and June 2019.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 prison sentence from 14 years to seven years.
The appellate court held that the trial court should not have imposed the maximum sentence on a first-time offender.
Faisal’s reported arrest comes against the background of his father’s own legal troubles involving the misappropriation and laundering of pension funds.
Abdulrasheed Maina, who headed the now-defunct Pension Reform Task Team, served an eight-year prison sentence at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja following his conviction in connection with the laundering of two billion naira in pension funds.
He was released earlier this year, according to the report, but has since been declared wanted in connection with an alleged case of receiving stolen property.
The reported arrest of Faisal could mark a significant development in the long-running legal proceedings against the former pension task team chairman’s son.
However, further official confirmation from the relevant security and anti-graft agencies would be needed to establish the details of his arrest and the next steps in the enforcement of his conviction.
