DSS apprehends Faisal Maina in Abuja for money laundering

Faisal Maina, the son of Abdulrasheed Maina, the former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, was arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) in the Karsana area of Abuja. His arrest occurred after credible intelligence indicated that he had secretly returned to Nigeria.

Following his arrest, he was handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Faisal had been evading law enforcement since 2020 after being arraigned by the EFCC on a three-count charge related to money laundering.

In October 2021, he was convicted by the Federal High Court in Abuja and sentenced to 14 years in prison for operating a fictitious bank account with the United Bank for Africa, through which he and his father allegedly laundered N58.1 million. In November 2022, the Court of Appeal upheld his conviction but reduced his sentence to seven years, stating that the maximum sentence was inappropriate for a first-time offender.

His father, Abdulrasheed Maina, previously served a prison sentence for laundering pension funds.