US Court Sentences Osun Monarch to 56 Months in Prison for $4.2m COVID-19 Relief Fraud
A US court sitting in Ohio has sentenced Joseph Oloyede, the Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun state, to 56 months imprisonment for defrauding the US government of $4.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds
Following his guilty plea, Christopher Boyko, the trial judge, sentenced the Osun monarch on Tuesday. The judge ordered Oloyede to “serve three years of supervised release after imprisonment and pay $4,408,543 in restitution”.
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As stated in a release by the US attorney’s office in the northern district of Ohio, Oloyede will forfeit his Medina residence and $96,006, which was previously seized by investigators.
.Oloyede was apprehended in April 2024, alongside Edward Oluwasanmi, a Nigerian pastor, for alleged COVID-19-related fraudulent activities. The duo faced a 13-count charge in court, encompassing conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, and engaging in monetary transactions with criminally derived property.
The charge sheet detailed that from April 2020 through February 28, 2022, Oloyede and Oluwasanmi allegedly submitted false information for PPP loans and EIDLs applications for companies under their control. Furthermore, falsified tax and wage documents were allegedly submitted to support these applications.
The pair had admitted to certain offences and entered into plea bargain agreements. In July, the Nigerian pastor received a 27-month prison sentence for the fraud.
