Probe Reveals Maina Acquired US Properties Before Money Laundering Sentence

In 2010, as Nigerian pensioners faced delays in receiving their benefits, Abdulrasheed Maina was acquiring property in the United States. That August, while he was tasked with reforming a corrupt pension system, Maina purchased a house in Kentucky for $215,000.

This initial transaction marked the beginning of several acquisitions. Between 2010 and 2013, while he was serving as head of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Maina added two more properties in Kentucky and a house in the United Arab Emirates, shortly after being dismissed from his role.

The Nigerian government has accused Maina of embezzling millions from the pension fund he was supposed to protect during that timeframe.

An investigation conducted by PREMIUM TIMES, in collaboration with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF), has now disclosed for the first time the circumstances under which Maina acquired these properties, collectively valued at over $1.3 million.

The probe also revealed a series of name changes, corporate shifts, and legal maneuvers that prompt questions about the extent of knowledge held by Maina's ex-wife, Laila, regarding the origins of his wealth.

Maina was appointed by the administration of Goodluck Jonathan in 2010 to reform a corrupt pension system. His responsibilities included enrolling pensioners using biometric verification to prevent fraud.

Records from U.S. property transactions indicate that he made a cash purchase for the Kentucky home in August 2010, avoiding loans or mortgages.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has charged that Maina misappropriated $1.8 million from public funds through fraudulent biometric contracts just before this property acquisition.

In 2011, using his American company VIU Investment LLC, Maina purchased two more homes in Frankfort for a combined $415,000, again paying in cash. A year later, as allegations of corruption began to surface in Nigeria, he acquired a two-bedroom hotel apartment in Dubai for almost $700,000. This property is registered under his daughter, Farida Abdulrasheed Maina.

Court documents reveal that Maina and his secretary are accused of embezzling from Nigeria's pension fund over $1 million between 2010 and 2013, coinciding perfectly with his property purchases in the U.S.

Investigations indicate that his ex-wife, Laila, acquired one such American property through a divorce settlement.

Laila Abdulrasheed Maina, 51, finalized her divorce from Maina in a Kentucky court in 2022, just after he was found guilty of money laundering. In their settlement, she was granted the Frankfort house, purchased for $215,000 in 2010, during the period he was allegedly misappropriating pension funds.

The EFCC has not attempted to seize Maina's U.S. properties, and until now, no information had been disclosed about these holdings.

When approached for comments, EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale refrained from discussing the investigation; however, he mentioned the agency might look into assets that might have been acquired with illicit funds.

"We would want to pursue this if we have more information," Mr. Oyewale stated.

Maina's son, Faisal Maina, was found guilty of money laundering in a separate case in 2021 for his involvement in embezzling funds; he was sentenced in absentia after fleeing on bail. The EFCC claims he currently resides in the United States.

Maina has not replied to requests for comments. His media assistant informed our partners at OCCRP that he had no interest in addressing the inquiries.

As scrutiny about his dealings grew, Maina took steps to safeguard his U.S. properties. In January 2013, he transferred ownership of the properties owned by VIU Investment LLC firstly to himself and then to the Abdulrasheed Maina Children’s Trust.

That March, shortly after fleeing Nigeria for Dubai, Maina returned in 2017, where a PREMIUM TIMES investigation incited public outrage by revealing his clandestine reappointment while a fugitive. Consequently, the EFCC designated him as wanted, leading to his arrest and indictment for money laundering in 2019.

In a failed attempt to evade custody during an EFCC raid, Maina’s son Faisal brandished a firearm and attempted to drive his vehicle through a hotel entrance. After an additional escape attempt, authorities captured Maina in the Republic of Niger and extradited him to Nigeria.

In November 2021, he received an eight-year prison sentence for money laundering offenses linked to N2 billion in pension funds.

Documents filed under charge FHC/ABJ/CR/256/2019 reveal that Maina allegedly used false names to set up various bank accounts, recruiting his relatives who were bank personnel to manage fake accounts through which illicit funds flowed.

Three of his siblings appeared as witnesses during the prosecution, detailing how Maina fraudulently used their identities to create accounts to facilitate fraudulent activities. The entity he owned was also convicted and directed to be dissolved by the court.

The Federal High Court judge Okon Abang noted that Maina’s civil servant salary of just above N300,000 would not have cumulatively resulted in N2 billion, even if he had saved his salary over 35 years.

Maina continues to confront additional embezzlement allegations in a separate legal matter.

The Nigerian Correctional Service announced Maina's early release on February 25, 2025, citing good behavior during his incarceration. According to established legal principles, his sentence began on the date of his arrest, October 25, 2019. Furthermore, inmates demonstrating good conduct are eligible for early release under the applicable regulations, which led to his release being slated for February 25, 2025.

Since then, he had kept a low profile until recently when he was appointed as a patron by a local chapter of the Nigerian Bar Association and received a “Rule of Law and Courage Award” at a ceremony.

At this event, Maina reiterated his innocence, asserting that he faces persecution from senior officials within the Buhari administration. Nonetheless, his public image remains tarnished.

The day following the ceremony, the NBA's national leadership rebuked his appointment and initiated disciplinary measures against Anthony Ojo, the NBA Garki Branch President who awarded him.

In July 2021, just months prior to Maina’s conviction, Laila filed for divorce in a Kentucky family court, claiming their 30-year marriage “is irretrievably broken” and that reconciliation was improbable.

Due to Maina’s incarceration, a guardian was appointed to represent him during the divorce process.

The divorce decree, finalized in 2022, allocated complete ownership of the $215,000 Frankfort home to Laila, alongside custody of a minor child and control of bank accounts worth approximately $32,000.

Maina retained authority over a credit union account totalling $90,457.44, while the other two Kentucky residences remain under the Abdulrasheed Maina Children’s Trust.

Post-divorce, Laila changed her name to Laila Duke Williams in late 2022 and has since utilized this identity for various property and corporate registrations in the United States.

In Nigeria, however, she continues to operate under her married name, Laila Abdulrasheed Maina, an identity she has maintained since exchanging vows with him in Kaduna in 1995.

Records from the Corporate Affairs Commission indicate that Laila founded two businesses in Nigeria in May 2024, under her married name almost two years after adopting her new American identity.

Both she and Maina hold dual citizenship of Nigeria and the United States, as do their offspring.

The divorce raises more perplexities when examined alongside Laila's actions within Nigerian law.

In Kentucky, Laila claimed unemployment while filing for divorce, yet approximately a year earlier, she had attempted to assert ownership of several of the 23 properties that the EFCC sought to seize from Maina.

In an affidavit to the Nigerian court, she contended that those properties were purchased with funds from her business exporting African fabrics to the U.S., but offered no proof of such income.

The EFCC countered that she had never engaged in the export business in either Nigeria or the United States.

Court documents from her Kentucky divorce proceedings show that Laila renounced any claims to properties held outside the United States while she simultaneously contested for ownership of those properties in Nigerian courts.

Ultimately, the 23 properties, including one Maina secured with $1.4 million in cash, were forfeited to the Nigerian government in a ruling in 2024.

Although Nigerian authorities have successfully retrieved assets located domestically, the properties Maina procured abroad during his alleged embezzlement period have remained elusive.

The Kentucky properties and the Dubai apartment remain under the control of Maina’s ex-spouse and children.

Stefan Cassella, former deputy chief of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, indicated to PREMIUM TIMES and its partners that Laila could potentially face money laundering charges should U.S. authorities determine she was abreast of the criminal origins of the funds utilized to acquire the property.

“If she was involved, knowing that it was derived from criminal activity, then the United States could charge her with a money-laundering offense in Kentucky,” Mr. Cassella elucidated.

Nonetheless, he emphasized that any prosecution would be contingent on the statute of limitations, which is five years from when she took title to the property. In this circumstance, it has not yet expired, as she assumed ownership in 2022.

Laila did not respond to multiple requests for comments.