A Nigerian national, Yomi Jones Olayeye, also known as “Sabbie,” has been arrested for his alleged role in a conspiracy to fraudulently obtain at least $10 million in COVID-19 unemployment benefits from the U.S. government. The arrest was announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts on Monday.
Olayeye, a resident of Lagos, Nigeria, was apprehended on August 13 upon his arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. He is accused of masterminding a scheme between March and July 2020 to defraud three pandemic assistance programs managed by the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance: traditional Unemployment Insurance (UI), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC).
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Olayeye and his co-conspirators allegedly purchased personally identifiable information (PII) from criminal internet forums and used it to apply for UI, PUA, and FPUC benefits, falsely claiming to be eligible state residents impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. They reportedly used the same fraudulently obtained PII to open U.S. bank and prepaid debit card accounts to receive the assistance payments.
The statement further alleges that Olayeye and his co-conspirators recruited U.S.-based individuals to receive and transfer the fraud proceeds through cash transfer apps. They are also accused of using the fraudulent funds to purchase Bitcoin through online marketplaces and of concealing the conspiracy’s connection to Nigeria by leasing U.S.-based Internet Protocol addresses for the fraudulent transactions.
In total, Olayeye and his co-conspirators allegedly applied for at least $10 million in fraudulent unemployment benefits from states including Massachusetts, Hawaii, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Montana, Maine, Ohio, and Washington. They reportedly received more than $1.5 million in assistance to which they were not entitled.
Olayeye faces charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which 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, and restitution.
Additionally, he faces a charge of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison, to be added to any sentence imposed on the wire fraud charges. Sentences will be determined by a federal district court judge according to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and relevant statutes. In related news, 2 students have been arrested over 1.9 billion MTN Hack.
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