The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested Faisal Abdulrasheed Maina, son of former Pension Reform Task Team chairman Abdulrasheed Maina, and handed him over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the enforcement of his criminal conviction.

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

Security sources cited by Zagazola Makama said the arrest followed efforts to track him after he allegedly fled the country while facing prosecution over money laundering offences.

“His arrest followed credible intelligence which indicated that Faisal had secretly returned to the country,” a security source said.

Faisal had been on the run since 2020 after failing to attend court proceedings in a case brought against him by the EFCC. The anti-graft agency had charged him with three offences involving money laundering and related financial misconduct.

In October 2021, Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja convicted Faisal in absentia and sentenced him to 14 years’ imprisonment, with the prison terms to run concurrently.

The court found that he operated an account in the name of Alhaji Faisal Farm 2 through which approximately N58.1 million was allegedly laundered. The funds were linked to transactions involving his father and were withdrawn between October 2013 and June 2019, according to court reports.

However, the Court of Appeal subsequently upheld Faisal’s conviction in November 2022 but reduced his prison sentence from 14 years to seven years, ruling that the maximum punishment imposed by the trial court was inappropriate for a first-time offender. <Cite refs={[“turn562477search10″,”turn562477search15”]}/>

The original judgment had directed that Faisal be arrested wherever he was found in Nigeria and remanded in a correctional facility to serve his sentence. It also provided for lawful extradition proceedings if he was located outside the country.

His reported arrest is therefore expected to allow the authorities to take steps towards enforcing the applicable court judgment.

The DSS has reportedly transferred Faisal to the EFCC, although the arrest and handover details in the available reports were attributed to security sources rather than a formal statement from either agency.

The development comes years after Faisal’s father, Abdulrasheed Maina, was convicted in a separate pension-fraud and money-laundering case. The former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team was sentenced to eight years in prison in November 2021.

Faisal’s reported return and arrest mark a significant development in the long-running case, which continued in his absence after he failed to attend court.

Further official details are expected to clarify the next steps in enforcing the Court of Appeal’s judgment and the arrangements for his custody.