DSS arrests Maina’s son after returning to Nigeria, hands him over to EFCC

The Department of State Services (DSS) has apprehended Faisal, son of Abdulrasheed Maina, the former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, and transferred him into the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Intelligence reports suggest that Faisal had clandestinely returned to Nigeria, prompting his arrest.

According to a security source, DSS operatives apprehended him in the Karsana area of Abuja before transferring him to the EFCC. Faisal had been at large since 2020 following his arraignment by the EFCC for 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 facilitate his father's alleged money laundering scheme involving N58.1 million. The Court of Appeal reduced his sentence to seven years in November 2022, stating that the trial court erred in imposing the maximum sentence on a first-time offender.

In 2026, Abdulrasheed Maina was released from prison but was later declared a wanted suspect for allegedly receiving stolen property.