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Investigation Exposes US, Dubai Properties Linked To Maina’s Pension Fraud

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In 2010, as thousands of Nigerian pensioners queued endlessly for unpaid benefits, Abdulrasheed Maina, then chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, was quietly acquiring luxury properties abroad.

In August of that year, Mr Maina purchased a $215,000 house in Kentucky, United States, paying cash with no mortgage, according to property records reviewed by Premium Times and its investigative partners.

That transaction marked the beginning of a string of foreign property acquisitions allegedly funded with money diverted from Nigeria’s pension system.

A cross-border investigation by Premium Times, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), and the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) has revealed that between 2010 and 2013, Mr Maina acquired four properties in the United States and the United Arab Emirates worth over $1.3m.

The purchases coincided with the period Nigerian authorities later alleged that Mr Maina siphoned millions of dollars from pension funds under his control.

Property records show that:

In August 2010, Mr Maina bought a house in Frankfort, Kentucky, for $215,000 in cash.

In 2011, through VIU Investment LLC, a company he controlled, he purchased two more homes in Kentucky for a combined $415,000, again paying cash.

In June 2013, he bought a two-bedroom hotel apartment in Dubai for nearly $700,000, shortly after he was removed from office.

The Dubai property is currently registered in the name of his daughter, Farida Abdulrasheed Maina.

Timing Raises Questions

Court documents indicate that Mr Maina and his personal secretary allegedly diverted over $1m from pension funds between 2010 and 2013—a timeline that aligns closely with the property purchases.

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According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Maina fraudulently obtained $1.8m from public funds through pension biometrics contracts shortly before buying the first US property.

Divorce Deal Transfers US Property

The investigation further revealed that Mr Maina’s ex-wife, Laila Abdulrasheed Maina, gained ownership of one of the US properties through a divorce settlement.

In 2022, a Kentucky court dissolved their 30-year marriage and awarded Laila the $215,000 Frankfort home, which Mr Maina had bought in 2010 with cash.

At the time of the divorce, Mr Maina had already been convicted of money laundering in Nigeria.

The EFCC did not attempt to seize the US properties, and their existence had not been publicly disclosed until now.

EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale told PREMIUM TIMES that the agency would likely investigate any foreign assets linked to illicit proceeds if provided with sufficient information.

Asset Transfers and Trusts

As corruption allegations intensified in Nigeria, Mr Maina began reshuffling ownership of his American properties.

In January 2013, he transferred the two Kentucky homes owned by VIU Investment LLC first to himself and then to the Abdulrasheed Maina Children’s Trust.

He fled Nigeria for Dubai in March 2013.

When he returned in 2017, public outrage followed revelations that he had been secretly reinstated into the civil service despite being a fugitive.

Arrest, Trial and Conviction

Mr Maina was declared wanted by the EFCC, arrested in 2019, and charged with money laundering.

In November 2021, Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court sentenced him to eight years’ imprisonment for laundering N2bn in pension funds.

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“The convict’s salary as a civil servant was a little above N300,000 and could not have amounted to N2bn even if he saved for 35 years,” the judge held.

Mr Maina fled trial once more but was rearrested in Niger Republic and extradited to Nigeria.

His son, Faisal Maina, was also convicted in a separate money laundering case and sentenced in absentia after fleeing to the United States.

Early Release, Public Outrage

The Nigerian Correctional Service confirmed that Mr Maina was released on February 25, 2025, following statutory remission for good behaviour.

He resurfaced publicly last week after a branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) named him a patron and presented him with a “Rule of Law and Courage Award.”

The NBA national leadership swiftly disowned the award and announced disciplinary action against the branch officials involved.

Two Names, Two Jurisdictions

Following her divorce, Laila changed her name in the US to Laila Duke Williams in late 2022.

However, in Nigeria, she continues to operate under Laila Abdulrasheed Maina, incorporating two companies in 2024 using that name, according to Corporate Affairs Commission records.

Both Mr Maina and his ex-wife hold dual Nigerian and American citizenship.

In Kentucky, Laila declared herself unemployed during divorce proceedings.

Yet earlier, she had filed affidavits in Nigerian courts claiming ownership of several properties the EFCC sought to confiscate, insisting they were bought from proceeds of an African fabric export business.

The EFCC countered that no evidence supported such claims.

In 2024, all 23 Nigerian properties linked to Mr Maina—including one bought with $1.4m cash—were finally forfeited to the Federal Government.

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Assets Beyond Nigeria’s Reach

While Nigerian authorities recovered domestic assets, Mr Maina’s foreign properties remain beyond their reach.

Former US Justice Department official Stefan Cassella said American authorities could pursue money laundering charges against Laila if it is proven she knowingly benefited from criminal proceeds.

“If she knew the property was criminally derived, she could face charges in the US,” Cassella said, noting that the statute of limitations has not yet expired.

According to Premium Times, both Mr Maina and Laila declined to respond to multiple requests for comment.

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Alleged cybercrime: DSS suspends Sowore’s case until after 2027 polls

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The Department of State Services, DSS, has asked its private counsel, Akinolu Kehinde, SAN, to suspend the alleged cyberbullying case instituted against African Action Congress, AAC, presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, until after the 2027 presidential election.

The development followed a meeting between the Director-General of the DSS, Tosin Ajayi, the senior lawyer and top officials of the agency’s Legal Directorate.

The move is aimed at allowing the human rights activist to fully participate in the 2027 elections.

According to Vanguard, a DSS source said Ajayi directed the lawyer and officials of the Directorate of Legal Services that, with the commencement of presidential campaigns, it would only be fair to pause the case.

The source further stated that the case, having been in court for nearly a year, could be suspended for another four months without making much difference.

“The DSS boss told the lawyers that, since the matter had been in court for nearly a year, suspending it for another four months wouldn’t make much difference,” the source added.

According to the source, the DSS is expected to formally communicate its decision to suspend the case to the Federal High Court from September 14, 2026, when the court is scheduled to resume normal sittings after the annual judicial vacation.

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PHOTOS: NDLEA intercepts N6.2bn worth of ‘Jihadi drug’ in Ghana soap, opioids at Lagos airport

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Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted consignments of captagon, widely known as ‘Jihadi drug’ and millions of opioid pills worth over N6.2 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja Lagos.

The captagon shipment was seized at the Lagos airport on Saturday 22nd August 2026 following the arrest of a 49-year-old cross-border kingpin Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived from Accra Ghana aboard an African World Airlines flight.

A search of his carton of local bathing soap, popularly called “Ghana Soap,” led to the recovery of 47,200 pills of the illicit amphetamine drug worth over N1.5 billion concealed within blocks of soap. Captagon, which is notoriously dubbed the ‘Jihadi drug’ for its use in funding extremist activities in conflict zones, was first intercepted in Nigeria by NDLEA in September 2021 at the Apapa port in Lagos. After his arrest, Akinbile claimed he was meant to deliver the consignment in the North.

In another successful interdiction operation at the Lagos airport, no fewer than 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined gross weight of 2,787.40 kilograms and more than N4.6 billion in street value, were recovered from four abandoned consignments at the import shed of the MMIA. Three of the consignments, comprising 900,000 tablets of Tramaking (815.40kg), arrived aboard RwandAir flights from Bangladesh, while a fourth, comprising 3,000,030 tablets of Tapentadol (1,972kg), arrived on Qatar Airways from Amsterdam.

The shipments, which had been placed under close watch after no one showed up to claim them, were formally retrieved after a joint examination by NDLEA officers, Customs and other stakeholders on Friday 28th August.

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A 31-year-old US-returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun was on 19th August arrested by NDLEA operatives at Ikate area of Lekki after he showed up to take delivery of 3.350 kilograms of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis imported from the United Kingdom.

Fireproof safe cracked open in Rivers drug den raid

In Rivers state, NDLEA operatives have raided the notorious Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt where they recovered a fireproof iron safe among other items. When the safe was cracked open with a welding machine on Tuesday 25th August, 237 grams of colorado; 316 grams of cocaine, and 10 grams of heroin were recovered from it.

Three suspects: Oyedele Daniel, 42; Taye Saliu, 36; and Kehinde Saliu, 36, were on Friday 28th August nabbed at Ipele-Idoani road, in Ondo state with a total of 728kg skunk recovered from their truck marked KRE 120 XB. Two other suspects: Uche Joseph, 35, and Godwin Umeh, 21, were arrested at Aponmu forest with 341kg of same substance on Wednesday 26th August.
In Delta state, over 176,000 pills of assorted opioids including tramadol, molly and others were recovered from two interdiction operations in parts of the state between Wednesday 26th and Friday 28th August.

With the same vigour, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week. These include: WADA enlightenment lecture to students and staff of Markaz Littahfizul Quran Wal Islamiyyat, Dadin Kowa, Gombe; Zangina Islamiyyah Alasawa Kurna, Ungogo LGA, Kano; youths at the adolescent lifestyle programme organised by NNPCL in Benin city, Edo state; while the Ondo State Command of NDLEA paid a WADA advocacy visit to the State Governor, Dr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, with the Taraba state command of the Agency paying a similar advocacy visit to the State Governor, Dr. Agbu Kefas, among others.

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While commending the officers and men of MMIA, Ondo, and Delta Commands for the various successful operations, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency.

He also directed them to sustain the momentum against drug traffickers who are desperate to explore every means, including concealment in everyday household items like soap, to move their illicit consignments.

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PHOTOS: Benue varsity student arrested for pouring hot water on roommate

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The Benue State Police Command has arrested a 500-level student of Fr Moses Adasu University, formerly Benue State University, for allegedly attacking a neighbour with hot water. LawEnforcement

The spokesperson for the command, DSP Peter Aondongu, who confirmed the incident in a statement on Saturday, August 29, 2026 said that an investigation had commenced to unravel the cause of fighting between the two students.

“Yes, it happened yesterday, Friday, August 28, 2026. From the information I have, both students were staying in the same room and had an issue. The suspect allegedly boiled water, added salt and pepper, and poured the mixture on the victim and then locked her inside,” the PPRO said.

“After some time, people became aware of what had happened and were able to intervene and rescue the victim. She was subsequently taken to the hospital for treatment, while the suspect was arrested.

“I don’t have much information yet about the genesis of the disagreement or what led to the incident, but I can confirm that the incident happened. I also understand that both of them are students of the Benue State University.”

Narrating what might have transpired between the two female students, the Students’ Union President, Akighirga Vitalis, who led members of his executive to the hospital, said that Rose explained that there was a disagreement with the suspect identified as Felicia, which allegedly escalated into the violent attack.

Vitalis said that the duo had been living together before disagreements over personal matters began to strain their relationship.

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While expressing shock over the condition of the student and condemning the alleged attack, Vitalis described it as “a grave and unacceptable assault on the life and well-being of a fellow student.”

“We are deeply concerned about this incident. The Students’ Union will follow this matter closely until justice prevails,” he said.

The union president assured all that the union would engage relevant authorities and monitor the investigation, as well as any disciplinary process that may arise within the university.

Vitalis said that if the allegations against Felicia are established through due process, the Students’ Union would support the application of appropriate sanctions under the university’s regulations, including expulsion where warranted.

“The Students’ Union will not condone violence or any conduct capable of endangering the life of another student,” Vitalis added.

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