The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested Faisal, son of former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Abdulrasheed Maina, who has been on the run since 2020 following his arraignment on money laundering charges.
Faisal was arrested in the Karsana area of Abuja after intelligence reports indicated that he had secretly returned to Nigeria. He has since been handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), according to TheCable.
“His arrest followed credible intelligence which indicated that Faisal had secretly returned to the country,” a source said.
Faisal had been arraigned by the EFCC on a three-count charge bordering on money laundering. Although he was granted bail, he allegedly breached the conditions and fled the country.
His disappearance did not stop the trial, which continued in his absence.
In October 2021, the Federal High Court in Abuja convicted him on the money laundering charges and sentenced him to 14 years in prison.
Delivering judgment, Justice Okong Abang held that the EFCC had established that Faisal operated a fictitious bank account with United Bank for Africa (UBA), through which his father allegedly laundered N58.1 million.
The court found that the funds were deposited into an account bearing the name “Alhaji Faisal Farm 2” before being withdrawn by Faisal and his father between October 2013 and June 2019.
In November 2022, the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction but reduced Faisal’s sentence from 14 years to seven years. The appellate court ruled that the trial court should not have imposed the maximum sentence on a first-time offender.
Faisal’s arrest comes against the backdrop of his father’s own conviction in a separate pension fund fraud case.
Maina 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.
