Cleveland, Ohio – A Nigerian traditional ruler has been sentenced to more than four years in a US prison after being convicted for his role in a multi-million dollar COVID-19 relief fraud scheme.
Oba Joseph Oloyede, the 62-year-old Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, who also holds dual U.S. and Nigerian citizenship, was sentenced to 56 months in prison by a U.S. District Judge on August 26. He was also ordered to pay over $4.4 million in restitution and will serve three years of supervised release after his imprisonment.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, the monarch and a co-conspirator, Edward Oluwasanmi, submitted fraudulent loan applications between April 2020 and February 2022. The loans were part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was designed to assist struggling businesses during the pandemic.
Prosecutors said Oloyede, who also worked as a tax preparer, used his own businesses and those of his clients to submit the applications, obtaining approximately $1.7 million in funds for his entities alone. He also allegedly received kickbacks of 15-20% from his clients for securing loans for them, which he failed to report to the IRS.
Investigators revealed that Oloyede used the stolen funds for personal gain, including acquiring land, building a home, and purchasing a luxury vehicle. He was found to have caused the Small Business Administration (SBA) to approve 38 fraudulent applications, amounting to over $4.2 million in disbursed loans.
His co-conspirator, Edward Oluwasanmi, was sentenced to 27 months in prison in July. The conviction was the result of a joint investigation by several US federal agencies.
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