DSS arrests convicted Maina’s son, hands him over to EFCC

The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested Faisal, the son of former pension reform task team chairman Abdulrasheed Maina, and transferred him to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Security officials revealed that Faisal's arrest was prompted by intelligence suggesting he had clandestinely returned to Nigeria.

The DSS apprehended him in Abuja's Karsana area before delivering him to the EFCC. Faisal had been evading capture since 2020 following his indictment by the EFCC on three counts of money laundering. In October 2021, a Federal High Court in Abuja convicted him and sentenced him to 14 years in prison. The court found evidence that Faisal had used a fictitious bank account with United Bank for Africa to launder N58.1 million, which was transferred from an account named "Alhaji Faisal Farm 2" to his possession between 2013 and 2019.

Despite this, the Court of Appeal reduced Faisal's sentence to seven years in 2022, stating that the trial court should not have imposed the maximum penalty on a first-time offender. His father, Abdulrasheed Maina, served an eight-year sentence for laundering N2 billion in pension funds and was released earlier in 2026. However, Maina is currently wanted on charges of receiving stolen property.