A Nigerian man, identified as Yomi Jones Olayeye, also known as “Sabbie,” has been arrested by U.S. authorities for allegedly conspiring to defraud the United States government of at least $10 million in COVID-19 unemployment benefits.
The arrest was announced in a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts on Monday.
Olayeye, who hails from Lagos, Nigeria, was apprehended on August 13 upon his arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
The 40-year-old suspect is accused of orchestrating a complex scheme to exploit three pandemic assistance programs administered by the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance between March and July 2020.
According to court documents, Olayeye, along with his co-conspirators, allegedly used personally identifiable information (PII) that they had purchased from criminal internet forums to apply for unemployment benefits through the traditional Unemployment Insurance (UI), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) programmes.
These programs were designed to provide financial relief to U.S. residents who were severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office detailed that the conspirators falsely represented themselves as eligible state residents who were affected by the pandemic, using the fraudulently obtained PII to open U.S. bank accounts and prepaid debit card accounts.
“These accounts were used to receive the illicitly obtained assistance payments. To further the conspiracy, Olayeye and his co-conspirators reportedly recruited U.S.-based account holders to receive and transfer the fraudulent proceeds through cash transfer applications.
“The scheme didn’t end there. The conspirators allegedly converted the stolen funds into Bitcoin through online marketplaces, a move that helped obscure the origins of the funds.
“To conceal their activities further and avoid detection, Olayeye and his associates allegedly leased Internet Protocol (IP) addresses assigned to computers in the United States, making it appear as though the transactions were conducted domestically, rather than from Nigeria.
“Despite their sophisticated efforts to cover their tracks, Olayeye and his accomplices were able to fraudulently obtain more than $1.5 million in unemployment benefits to which they were not entitled. The total amount they attempted to secure was estimated to be at least $10 million.”
If convicted, Olayeye faces severe penalties under U.S. law. Charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud each carry a potential 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 of any proceeds derived from the offense, and restitution to the victims.
Additionally, the charge of aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison, which must be served consecutively to any sentence imposed for the wire fraud charges.
Olayeye made his initial appearance in a New York district court on August 14 and is scheduled to appear in federal court in Boston on Tuesday, where the case will continue.
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