Fugitive Found! Ex-Pension Boss Maina's Son, Faisal, Arrested After Six Years On The Run
Fugitive Faisal Maina, son of the former PRTT chairman, Abdulrasheed Maina, has been arrested by the DSS after six years on the run and handed over to the EFCC. His apprehension in Abuja follows intelligence of his secret return to Nigeria, setting the stage for him to serve his seven-year money laundering sentence.
Faisal Maina, son of Abdulrasheed Maina, the former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), has reportedly been arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS), six years after he jumped bail. Following his apprehension, the DSS handed him over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further action, a development that comes after the EFCC had declared him wanted.
Security sources indicated that Faisal's arrest was a result of credible intelligence suggesting he had secretly returned to Nigeria. Operatives of the DSS successfully tracked and apprehended him in the Karsana area of Abuja before transferring him to the EFCC. His arrest is expected to facilitate the enforcement of the court's judgment against him, ensuring he serves his sentence in accordance with the law.
Faisal had been on the run since 2020 after the EFCC arraigned him on a three-count charge bordering on money laundering and conspiracy. Although he was initially granted bail, he allegedly breached his bail conditions and fled the country, leading to his trial continuing in absentia.
The trial culminated in his conviction by the Federal High Court in Abuja in October 2021, where Justice Okong Abang sentenced him to 14 years’ imprisonment on money laundering charges. The court found that the EFCC had proven Faisal operated a fictitious account with United Bank for Africa (UBA), titled "Alhaji Faisal Farm 2," through which his father allegedly laundered N58.1 million. These funds were deposited into the account and subsequently withdrawn by Faisal and his father between October 2013 and June 2019.
In November 2022, the Court of Appeal upheld Faisal’s conviction but reduced his sentence from 14 years to seven years, reasoning that the trial court should not have imposed the maximum sentence on a first-time offender. The court had also previously ordered that Faisal be arrested wherever he was found in Nigeria and remanded in a correctional centre to serve his sentence. Furthermore, it directed the Federal Government to take lawful steps to secure his extradition if he were found outside the country.
This development unfolds against the backdrop of his father's legal troubles. Abdulrasheed Maina himself served an eight-year prison sentence at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja for laundering N2 billion in pension funds. He was released earlier this year but has since been declared wanted over an alleged case of receiving stolen property, highlighting a family pattern of financial impropriety and legal evasion.