Nigerian arrested for ‘defrauding’ US of $10m COVID-19 unemployment benefits

A Nigerian man has been arrested for allegedly conspiring to obtain at least $10 million COVID-19 unemployment benefits from the United States government.

A statement issued on Monday by the US attorney’s office, district of Massachusetts, said Yomi Jones Olayeye aka “Sabbie,” from Lagos was arrested on August 13.

Olayeye was picked up upon arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

According to the court, between March and July 2020, Olayeye and others defrauded three pandemic assistance programs administrated by the Massachusetts department of unemployment assistance; 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 attorney’s office said.

“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 is further alleged that Olayeye and his co-conspirators concealed 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.”

The statement said the 40-year-old and his co-conspirators successfully received over $1.5 million in assistance to which they were not entitled.

In the US, charges of wire fraud and its conspiracy provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, forfeiture, and restitution.

The aggravated identity theft charge calls for a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison to be added to any sentence imposed on the wire fraud charge.

The US attorney’s office said Olayeye made his first appearance in a New York district court on August 14 and will appear in federal court in Boston on Tuesday (today).