N144m Fraud: Ogun Governor’s Aide Faces 5 Years Imprisonment After Pleading Guilty To Defrauding US Residents

A Special Assistant to the Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, Abidemi Rufai, has pleaded guilty to defrauding employees of the Washington State Employment Security Department, United States to the tune of $350,000 (N144,585,000).

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Prosecutors are recommending 71 months sentencing for him but that depends on the discretion of the U.S. District Court in Tacoma where he was arraigned.

THE WHISTLER earlier reported that Rufai was arrested at the New York airport on May 2021 by Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), following a criminal complaint by about 100 defrauded US residents.

“The criminal complaint alleges that Rufai used the stolen identities of more than 100 Washington residents to file fraudulent claims with ESD for pandemic-related unemployment benefits. Rufai also filed fraudulent unemployment claims with Hawaii, Wyoming, Massachusetts, Montana, New York, and Pennsylvania.
“Rufai used variations of a single e-mail address in a manner intended to evade automatic detection by fraud systems. By using this practice, Rufai made it appear that each claim was connected with a different email account,” FBI had said on its website.

In a press release by the US Department of Justice, Rufai admitted to have been part of the team that “obtained personal identifying information of more than 20,000 Americans to submit fraudulent claims for more than $2 million in federally funded payments since 2017.”

“A 45-year-old resident of Lekki, Nigeria, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for using stolen identities to claim hundreds of thousands of dollars in pandemic-related unemployment benefits, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown.

“According to the plea agreement, since 2017, Rufai unlawfully obtained the personal identifying information for more than 20,000 Americans to submit more than $2 million in claims for federally funded benefits under a variety of relief programs. The various agencies involved paid out more than $600,000.

“The largest amount of fraud was committed against the Washington State Employment Security Department, which paid out $350,763 in fraudulent pandemic unemployment claims to accounts controlled by Rufai. Rufai also submitted fraudulent pandemic unemployment claims in at least 17 other states,” the department said.

Meanwhile, Rufai agreed to pay full restitution to the defrauded agencies but the court has fixed August 15, 2022 for sentencing.

“Wire fraud in relation to a presidentially declared major disaster or emergency is punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Aggravated identity theft is punishable two years in prison to follow any prison term imposed on another charge. Prosecutors have agreed to recommend no more than 71 months in prison,” the department said.