$4.2m COVID-19 fraud: Osun monarch jailed for four years in US

The Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede, has been sentenced to over four years in prison in the United States of America (USA) for his role in a multimillion-dollar COVID-19 relief fraud.

The 62-year-old monarch, who holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and Nigeria and resides in Ohio, was handed 56 months in prison on Tuesday by the U.S. District Judge Christopher A. Boyko.

According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio on Tuesday, the monarch was also ordered to “serve three years of supervised release after imprisonment and pay $4,408,543.38 in restitution.

“He also forfeited his Medina home on Foote Road, which he had acquired with proceeds of the scheme, and an additional $96,006.89 in fraud proceeds investigators had seized,” the statement read.

Prosecutors said Oloyede orchestrated a scheme to exploit COVID-19 emergency loan programmes designed to support struggling businesses during the pandemic.

“From about April 2020 to February 2022, Oloyede and his co-conspirator, Edward Oluwasanmi, conspired to submit fraudulent applications for loans that were made available through the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.”

In April, both men pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax fraud charges after defrauding the U.S. government of more than $4.2 million in federal stimulus funds.

Court records showed that Oloyede, who also worked as a tax preparer, “operated five businesses and one nonprofit, while Oluwasanmi owned an additional three business entities.

“Both defendants used their businesses to submit loan applications using false information.

“They obtained approximately $1.2 million in SBA funds for Oluwasanmi’s entities and $1.7 million for Oloyede’s entities,” the statement added.

Investigators revealed that the scheme extended further as Oloyede also “submitted fraudulent PPP and EIDL applications in the names of some of his clients and their businesses.

“In exchange, Oloyede would receive 15-20% of their loans as the fee, or kickback, for obtaining the loans for them, without reporting this income to the IRS on his own tax returns.”

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Prosecutors said the funds were used for personal benefit. “Investigators learned that the defendant used funds obtained from these loans to acquire land and build a home and purchase a luxury vehicle,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office disclosed.

In total, Oloyede “caused the SBA to approve 38 fraudulent applications, amounting to $4,213,378 in disbursed loans and advances.”

His co-conspirator, Oluwasanmi, also 62, from Willoughby, Ohio, was sentenced in July to 27 months in prison. He was ordered to pay more than $1.2 million in restitution, forfeit a commercial property acquired with fraud proceeds, and surrender over $600,000 held in financial accounts.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office stressed the importance of the conviction, noting that the case was investigated by the Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General, the FBI Cleveland Division, and IRS-Criminal Investigations under the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Fraud Task Force.

“This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Edward D. Brydle and James L. Morford for the Northern District of Ohio.”

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