FILE PHOTO: Abidemi Rufai and Governor Abiodun
A former aide to Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, Abidemi Rufai, was sentenced to five years for what prosecutors called a “litany of scams” that took in more than $600,000 in public and private funds, including Washington unemployment benefits intended for pandemic victims.
Abidemi Rufai, 45, was sentenced on Monday in a US federal court in Tacoma for crimes ranging from $350,763 in pandemic unemployment fraud to filing bogus federal tax returns and theft of federal disaster relief money.
Prosecutors had asked for nearly six years, along with restitution of $604,260 for multiple counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for Rufai.
The sentence “sends a strong message that these foreign actors who are abroad cannot just simply hide anonymously behind keyboards and that they can be brought to justice in the United States,” said Assistant US Attorney Cindy Chang, who handles COVID fraud for the US Attorney’s Office in Seattle.
Rufai, one of the first suspects arrested in Washington’s $650 million unemployment fraud, was detained in May 2021 at John F. Kennedy International Airport as he allegedly tried to fly back to Nigeria. He had briefly served as an aide to Dapo Abiodun, governor of Ogun State in Nigeria, before reportedly being suspended following his arrest.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Among other crimes, Rufai was charged with using stolen Social Security numbers and other personal data to file dozens of fake claims for pandemic unemployment benefits in Washington and other states. Benefits from those claims were wired into bank accounts either controlled by Rufai or by accomplices known as “money mules.”
In sentencing documents, prosecutors detailed a pattern of fraud and scams dating back to at least 2017. Rufai used stolen identities of 49 residents of Texas and Florida to file for federal disaster relief for hurricanes Irma and Harvey, according to filings.
(seattletimes.com)
Nigerian singer and songwriter, Simi, has said that she does not have any friends in…
Nollywood star, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, has taken a step away from glitz and glam to…
SOMETIMES, trauma doesn’t just leave bruises on the body, it leaves bruises on memory, trust,…
A couple of months ago, history walked on its two legs into my feeble embrace.…
“If the problem is in the name or nomenclature employed by Utomi, then, we may…
IN yorubaland, parents burying their children is a cultural abomination. There is even a prayer-line…
This website uses cookies.