Nigerian faces 20 years imprisonment in the US on $10m fraud charge

A Nigerian man faces 20 years in prison in the United States on charges of defrauding the U.S. government of at least $10m in Covid-19 unemployment benefits.

Yomi Jones Olayeye, aka “Sabbie,” 40, was arrested last week by the U.S. Secret Service upon arriving at the John F. Kennedy International Airport on one count of wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

According to the case document explained by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Monday, between March and July 2020, Olayeye, who hails from Lagos, Nigeria, with others, defrauded three pandemic assistance programs administered by the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance and other states’ unemployment insurance agencies including the traditional unemployment insurance (UI), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC).

“Specifically, Olayeye and his co-conspirators allegedly used personally identifiable information (PII) they purchased over criminal internet forums to apply for UI, PUA and FPUC – falsely representing themselves to be eligible state residents affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.” the statement from the Attorney’s Office read.

“Olayeye and his co-conspirators allegedly used the same fraudulently obtained PII to open U.S. bank and prepaid debit card accounts to receive the assistance payments. It is also alleged that Olayeye and his co-conspirators recruited U.S.-based account holders to receive and transfer the fraud proceeds via cash transfer applications. Olayeye and his co-conspirators then allegedly used the fraudulent proceeds to purchase Bitcoin via online marketplaces,” it further revealed.

Olayeye and his associates are also in court for “concealing the conspiracy’s connection to Nigeria” by leasing internet protocol addresses assigned to computers located in the United States for use in the fraudulent transactions.

They had applied for at least $10m in fraudulent UI, PUA and FPUC from Massachusetts, Hawaii, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Montana, Maine, Ohio and Washington and received more than $1.5m in assistance which they were not entitled to.

Olayeye made an initial appearance in the Eastern District of New York on August 14 and was to appear in federal court in Boston on the 20th.

If found guilty, Olayeye and his co-conspirators face 20 years in prison, including three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000, “or twice the gross gain or loss, forfeiture and restitution.”

“The charge of aggravated identity theft calls for a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison to be added to any sentence imposed on the wire fraud charge. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case,“ the Attorney’s Office reported.

“Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Special Agent in Charge Andrew Murphy of the U.S. Secret Service Boston Field Office; Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General; and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth B. Kosto, Deputy Chief of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.”