How US Court Jailed Nigerian King for $4.2m COVID-19 Fraud

A United States court has sentenced a Nigerian monarch, Oba Joseph Olugbenga Oloyede, the Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, to 56 months in prison over a multimillion-dollar COVID-19 relief fund fraud.

The sentence was delivered on Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Christopher Boyko of the Northern District of Ohio. The monarch was convicted of conspiring to defraud the U.S. government of more than $4.2 million through fraudulent loan and grant applications designed to support small businesses during the pandemic.

Court records show that Oba Oloyede, a dual Nigerian and American citizen based in Ohio, pleaded guilty to six counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, engaging in monetary transactions with criminally derived property, and filing false tax returns.

As part of the ruling, he was ordered to pay $4.4 million in restitution, serve three years of supervised release after prison, and forfeit his Medina, Ohio home along with nearly $100,000 in illicit proceeds.

Investigations revealed that between April 2020 and February 2022, the monarch partnered with Edward Oluwasanmi, 62, to submit at least 38 fraudulent loan applications under the U.S. Paycheck Protection Programme (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan scheme. These were funds meant to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on small businesses.

While Oloyede secured about $1.7 million for his businesses, Oluwasanmi received about $1.2 million. The monarch also used the names of his tax clients to file fake applications, demanding kickbacks of 15–20 percent from the proceeds.

Prosecutors told the court that Oloyede spent the money on real estate, a luxury car, and personal investments.

Oluwasanmi, his co-conspirator, was sentenced earlier in July 2024 to 27 months in prison, alongside a $15,000 fine, restitution of over $1.2 million, and the forfeiture of properties and cash linked to the fraud.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Transportation–Office of Inspector General, the FBI, and IRS–Criminal Investigations, under the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Fraud Task Force.