After six years on the run, DSS nabs son of pension thief, Maina, hand him over to EFCC

After a prolonged six-year manhunt, Faisal Maina, the son of disgraced former Pension Reform Task Team chairman Abdulrasheed Maina, has finally been apprehended by the Department of State Security (DSS). The younger Maina is now in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) following his arrest in the Karsana area of Abuja.

Intelligence reports had indicated that Faisal had secretly returned to Nigeria, evading authorities since 2020. He had faced charges of money laundering and had breached his bail conditions while on the run. The EFCC had successfully prosecuted him for these crimes in absentia in October 2021. Faisal had been convicted of operating a fictitious account with the United Bank for Africa (UBA), which was allegedly used to launder N58.1 million.

The funds were deposited into an account under the name "Alhaji Faisal Farm 2" and subsequently withdrawn by Faisal and his father between 2013 and 2019.

The Court of Appeal upheld his conviction in November 2022 but reduced his sentence from 14 years to seven years, stating that the trial court should not have imposed the maximum sentence on a first-time offender. Faisal's father, Abdulrasheed Maina, had already served an eight-year prison sentence for laundering N2 billion in pension funds and was released in 2026. However, he has since been declared wanted in an alleged case of receiving stolen property.