A United States court has sentenced Oba Joseph Oloyede, the Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, to 56 months in prison for his role in a multimillion-dollar COVID-19 relief fraud scheme.
According to a statement issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, Oloyede, 62, who holds dual U.S. and Nigerian citizenship and resides in Medina, Ohio, was sentenced on August 26 by U.S. District Judge Christopher A. Boyko.
The monarch was also ordered to “serve three years of supervised release after imprisonment and pay $4,408,543.38 in restitution.
“He also forfeited his Medina home on Foote Road, which he had acquired with proceeds of the scheme, and an additional $96,006.89 in fraud proceeds investigators had seized.”
Prosecutors said Oloyede led a conspiracy to exploit emergency loan programmes created to assist businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“From about April 2020 to February 2022, Oloyede and his co-conspirator, Edward Oluwasanmi, conspired to submit fraudulent applications for loans made available through the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) under the CARES Act,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
In April, the duo pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax fraud charges. Investigators revealed that Oloyede, a tax preparer, operated five businesses and one nonprofit, while Oluwasanmi owned three business entities.
Using these entities, they submitted falsified applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL).
“Oloyede caused the SBA to approve 38 fraudulent applications, amounting to $4,213,378 in disbursed loans and advances,” prosecutors said.
They added that Oloyede also filed fraudulent applications on behalf of some clients, taking 15–20% of their loans as kickbacks without reporting the income to the IRS.
The funds were used for personal gain, including land acquisition, home construction and the purchase of a luxury vehicle.
Oluwasanmi, 62, of Willoughby, Ohio, was sentenced in July to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay over $1.2 million in restitution.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office emphasized the significance of the conviction, noting that the case was jointly investigated by the Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General, the FBI Cleveland Division, and IRS-Criminal Investigations as part of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Fraud Task Force.
“This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Edward D. Brydle and James L. Morford for the Northern District of Ohio,” the release concluded.
