The Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede, has been jailed for four years in United States for $4.2 million COVID-19 Fraud.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio in a statement on Tuesday said Oluyede was also ordered to “serve three years of supervised release after imprisonment and pay $4,408,543.38 in restitution.
The 62 years old monarch who holds dual U.S. and Nigerian citizenship and resides in Medina, Ohio, was on August 26 handed 56 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Christopher A. Boyko.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Oloyede led a conspiracy to exploit COVID-19 emergency loan programmes created for struggling businesses.
The statement reads: “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.
“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.”
TheHintsNews recalls that in April, the duo pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax fraud charges linked to a pandemic relief scam that siphoned over $4.2m in federal stimulus funds.
The prosecutors noted that the elaborate fraud went even further and the funds were then used for personal gain
The U.S. Attorney’s Office added: “Oloyede submitted fraudulent PPP and EIDL applications in the names of some of his clients and their businesses.
“In exchange, Oloyede would receive 15-20 per cent 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.”
“Investigators learned that the defendant used funds obtained from these loans to acquire land and build a home and purchase a luxury vehicle.”
In all, Oloyede “caused the SBA to approve 38 fraudulent applications, amounting to $4,213,378 in disbursed loans and advances.”
His co-conspirator, Oluwasanmi, 62, of Willoughby, was earlier sentenced in July to 27 months in prison.
He was also ordered to pay more than $1.2 million in restitution, forfeit a commercial property purchased with fraud proceeds, and surrender more than $600,000 held in financial accounts.