The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered Faisal Maina, son of former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Taskforce Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, to be taken to a correctional centre to serve his seven-year jail term for money laundering.
Justice James Omotosho issued the order following an ex parte motion filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and moved by its counsel, M.K. Hussain.
Faisal was re-arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) on October 14 and subsequently handed over to the EFCC after allegedly jumping bail and staying away from his trial for about six years.
He was initially arraigned in 2019 before the Federal High Court in Abuja on a three-count charge bordering on money laundering and failure to make full disclosure in an asset declaration form.
His trial proceeded in his absence, and in October 2021, Justice Okon Abang, now a Court of Appeal judge, convicted him and sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment on counts one and three, and 14 years on count two.
The sentences were ordered to run concurrently, while the court directed that he be arrested wherever he was found and taken to a correctional centre to serve his punishment.
However, in November 2022, the Court of Appeal upheld his conviction but reduced the sentences, ruling that the trial court should not have imposed the maximum punishment on a first-time offender.
Justice Omotosho subsequently stated that, in line with the appellate court’s decision of November 24, 2022, Faisal would serve three years’ imprisonment on count one, seven years on count two, and three years on count three, with all sentences running concurrently from October 14, the date of his re-arrest.
The court found that Faisal operated a fictitious account with the United Bank for Africa (UBA), through which his father allegedly laundered N58.1 million.
The money was reportedly deposited into an account bearing the name “Alhaji Faisal Farm 2” and withdrawn by Faisal and his father between October 2013 and June 2019.
His father, Abdulrasheed Maina, formerly headed the defunct Pension Reform Taskforce Team and was also convicted in a separate N2 billion money laundering case, for which he has served his prison term.
With the latest court order, Faisal is expected to begin serving his seven-year jail term, years after he absconded from trial.
