In a shocking development, the Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede, has been sentenced to more than four years in a United States federal prison for leading a multi-million-dollar conspiracy to defraud a COVID-19 emergency loan program.
The conviction and sentencing of the monarch, who holds dual U.S. and Nigerian citizenship, highlights a significant international crackdown on pandemic-related fraud.
On August 26, U.S. District Judge Christopher A. Boyko handed down a sentence of 56 months, equivalent to four years and eight months, to the 62-year-old monarch, who resides in Medina, Ohio.
According to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio on Tuesday, Oba Oloyede was also ordered to pay a staggering $4,408,543.38 in restitution and will serve three years of supervised release following his imprisonment.
As part of the penalty, the court ordered the forfeiture of his home on Foote Road, which was purchased with the proceeds of the fraudulent scheme.
An additional $96,006.89 in seized funds was also forfeited to the government.
The elaborate fraud, which spanned from April 2020 to February 2022, saw Oba Oloyede and his co-conspirator, Edward Oluwasanmi, exploit loan programs established under the U.S. Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
The two men, both aged 62, pleaded guilty in April to wire fraud and tax fraud charges related to the scam.
The court was told that Oba Oloyede, a tax preparer, used his five businesses and one nonprofit to submit fraudulent loan applications.
His co-conspirator, Oluwasanmi, who owned three business entities, did the same.
Collectively, they obtained approximately $1.7 million in Small Business Administration (SBA) funds for Oba Oloyede’s businesses and another $1.2 million for Oluwasanmi’s.
The investigation uncovered an even deeper layer of the scheme. In his capacity as a tax preparer, Oba Oloyede also submitted fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications on behalf of his clients and their businesses.
In exchange, he received a kickback of 15-20% of the loan amounts, which he failed to report as income on his own tax returns.
Prosecutors confirmed that the ill-got funds were used for personal enrichment, including the purchase of land, the construction of his Medina home, and the acquisition of a luxury vehicle.
In total, Oba Oloyede was responsible for causing the SBA to approve 38 fraudulent applications, resulting in the disbursement of $4,213,378 in loans and advances.
His co-conspirator, Oluwasanmi, was sentenced earlier in July to 27 months in prison and was ordered to pay over $1.2 million in restitution.
He also forfeited a commercial property and more than $600,000 held in financial accounts.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office underscored the importance of the conviction, noting the case was the result of a joint investigation by the Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General, the FBI Cleveland Division, and IRS-Criminal Investigations, all operating as part of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Fraud Task Force.
The prosecution was led by Assistant United States Attorneys Edward D. Brydle and James L. Morford.
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