Court Orders Remand of Maina’s Son, Faisal, to Serve Three-Year Concurrent Jail Terms for Money Laundering
Court Orders Remand of Maina’s Son, Faisal, to Serve Three-Year Concurrent Jail Terms for Money Laundering
Court Orders Remand of Maina’s Son, Faisal, to Serve Three-Year Concurrent Jail Terms for Money Laundering
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the remand of Faisal Maina, son of former Pension Reform Task Team Chairman, Abdulrasheed Maina, at a correctional centre to serve his prison sentence for money laundering.
Justice James Omotosho issued the order on Thursday after granting an ex parte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), seeking a warrant for Faisal’s commitment to the Nigeria Correctional Service.
The EFCC had asked the court to enforce the conviction and sentence imposed on Faisal for money laundering and failure to fully disclose his assets in a declaration form.
The Commission also requested that his prison term should commence from October 14, 2026, when he was rearrested by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) in the Karsana area of Abuja.
Faisal was subsequently handed over to the EFCC, about six years after jumping bail and disappearing during his trial.
After EFCC counsel, M.K. Hussain, moved the application, Justice Omotosho granted the requests and issued the committal warrant.
The judge directed that Faisal should serve three years’ imprisonment on count one, seven years on count two and three years on count three, in line with the Court of Appeal’s judgment delivered on November 24, 2022.
The sentences are to run concurrently, beginning from October 14, 2026.
Faisal was initially arraigned in 2019 on a three-count charge bordering on money laundering and failure to fully disclose his assets. He pleaded not guilty before Justice Okon Abang.
However, he later jumped bail and stopped attending court proceedings, prompting the trial judge to continue the case in his absence.
On October 7, 2021, the court convicted him and sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment on counts one and three, and 14 years on count two, with the sentences to run concurrently.
The court also ordered his arrest wherever he was found and his transfer to a correctional centre to serve his sentence.
Although the Court of Appeal upheld his conviction, it reduced the sentences in its November 24, 2022 judgment to three years on counts one and three, and seven years on count two.
Meanwhile, Faisal’s father, Abdulrasheed Maina, was separately convicted in a money laundering case involving about N2 billion and has since completed his prison sentence.
Court Orders Remand of Maina’s Son, Faisal, to Serve Three-Year Concurrent Jail Terms for Money Laundering
