After six years on the run, the DSS arrested the pension thief’s son, Maina, and handed him over to the EFCC

After six years on the run, the long arm of the law has finally caught up with Faisal Maina, son of former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina.

He has been arrested by the Department of State Security (DSS) and handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

This was confirmed by the commission’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, who told journalists that the younger Maina was in their custody, and that a court order was needed to transfer him to a correctional center to serve his prison sentence.

“Confirmed. The necessary court orders will be obtained to take him to the Correctional Institution so he can serve his sentence,” he said while answering questions.

Faisal was reportedly arrested by DSS agents in Karsana area of ​​Abuja after intelligence indicated that he had secretly returned to Nigeria.

The EFCC successfully tried Faisal, who has been on the run since 2020, in a case of money laundering in absentia.

He allegedly violated his bail conditions and left the country while facing three charges bordering on money laundering.

His trial continued in his absence, culminating in a decision by the Federal High Court in Abuja in October 2021. The trial judge, Okon Abang, sentenced him to 14 years in prison.

The court heard that Faisal operated a fictitious account at United Bank for Africa (UBA), through which his father allegedly laundered N58.1 million.

The funds were deposited into an account operated in the name of “Alhaji Faisal Farm 2” and then withdrawn by Faisal and his father between October 2013 and June 2019.

In November 2022, the Court of Appeal upheld his sentence but reduced it from 14 years to seven years, ruling that the court should not impose the maximum sentence on a first-time offender.

Faisal’s father, Maina, is serving an eight-year prison sentence at the Kuje Correctional Center in Abuja after he was charged with laundering N2 billion in pension funds. He was released in early 2026 but has since been declared wanted on suspicion of receiving stolen property.