A 40 year old Nigerian man identified as Yomi Jones Olayeye, A.K.A Sabbie, 40, of Lagos, Nigeria, has been arrested in the United States of America on charges that he and others conspired to defraud the United States the sum of $10 million in COVID-19 unemployment benefits.
He was arrested on Tuesday August 20, upon his arrival at the famous John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. And according to the Massachusetts Department of Justice, Yomi Jones Olayeye, is charged with wire fraud conspiracy, aggravated identity theft and one count of wire fraud. He will appear in the Federal Court in Boston.
According to the information relating to his charges, it was revealed that between the period of March and July 2020, he and others were involved in the scheme that defrauded about three COVID Pandemic Assistance Programs, which were officially administered by the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance and other states’ unemployment insurance agencies.
The accused were alleged to have acquired personally identifiable information to apply for UI, PUA and FPUC, which in other words means they falsely presented themselves as eligible state residents affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as such, entitled to benefit from the pandemic assistance programs in several regions across US.
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.
As such, they applied for up to $10 million in fraudulent UI, PUA and FPUC from Massachusetts, Hawaii, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Montana, Maine, Ohio and Washington. And going ahead to receive these COVID pandemic assistance funds in millions of dollars, when they are never entitled to get.
Meanwhile, if found guilty of the alleged wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy, they could face a jail time up to 20 years. Also, three years of supervised release, $250,000 fine or twice the gross gain or loss, forfeiture and restitution. As such, he and others could be facing multi years behind the bar once convicted and sentenced.
