By Sandra Kenneth
Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have apprehended Faisal Maina, son of the former Chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, following his clandestine return to Nigeria.
According to security insiders, Faisal was tracked down and captured by DSS personnel in the Karsana district of Abuja based on actionable intelligence regarding his secret entry into the country. Following his arrest, he was promptly transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further processing.
You may recall that Faisal had remained a fugitive since 2020 after the anti-graft agency docked him on a three-count money laundering charge.
In October 2021, the Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Okon Abang, found him guilty and sentenced him to 14 years behind bars. The court established that Faisal operated a dummy bank account with the United Bank for Africa (UBA) under the business name Alhaji Faisal Farm 2, through which his father funneled and laundered approximately N58.1m between October 2013 and June 2019.
Though the Court of Appeal upheld his conviction in November 2022, his prison term was slashed from 14 years to seven years after the appellate court ruled that maximum sentencing was unmerited for a first-time offender.
His father, Abdulrasheed Maina, had similarly faced extensive prosecution and imprisonment for laundering billions in pension funds before his legal battles captured national headlines. With his recent capture, Faisal is expected to face the remainder of his legal penalties.
