A Nigerian, Yomi Olayeye, has been arrested and charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, and identity theft for his alleged role in a $10 million pandemic unemployment assistance fraud scheme in the United States.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts under the Department of Justice revealed this in a statement posted on its website.
According to the statement, Olaleye was arrested on Aug. 13, 2024 upon arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City on charges that he and others conspired to fraudulently obtain at least $10 million in COVID-19 unemployment benefits.
It said the suspect is charged with one count of wire fraud conspiracy, one count of wire fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft and had made an initial appearance in the Eastern District of New York on Aug. 14, 2024 and will appear in federal court in Boston tomorrow.
The offences were allegedly committed between March and July 2020, when Olayeye and his co-conspirators were alleged to have used stolen personal information to apply for unemployment benefits in multiple states, including Massachusetts, Hawaii, and Indiana.
They were also alleged to have used the benefits to purchase Bitcoin and concealed their connection to Nigeria by using US-based IP addresses.
The United States Department of Justice said if convicted, Olayeye faces 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.
The Attorney General was reported to have established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force on May 17, 2021 to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across the government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.
