The latest news trending is that one Mr. Yomi Jones Olayeye, also referred to as “Sabbie,” from Lagos, Nigeria, has been apprehended and taken into custody.
He was arrested upon his arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.
He faces allegations of conspiring with others to fraudulently obtain at least $10 million in unemployment benefits associated with COVID-19.
This information was disclosed on Monday, August 19, by Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy, Special Agent in Charge Andrew Murphy of the U.S. Secret Service Boston Field Office, Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division.
The prosecution is being led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth B. Kosto, Deputy Chief of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit. Olayeye is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft.
He made his initial court appearance in the Eastern District of New York on August 14, 2024, and is set to appear in federal court in Boston on Tuesday, August 20.
The charging documents indicate that between March and July 2020, Olayeye and his associates defrauded three pandemic assistance programs managed by the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance and other state unemployment insurance agencies: traditional unemployment insurance (UI), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC).
Specifically, Olayeye and his co-conspirators allegedly utilized personally identifiable information (PII) acquired from criminal internet forums to apply for UI, PUA, and FPUC, falsely claiming to be eligible residents of the state impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition, they allegedly used the same fraudulently obtained PII to establish U.S. bank accounts and prepaid debit card accounts to receive the assistance payments.
It is claimed that Olayeye and his associates enlisted account holders based in the United States to receive and transfer the proceeds of fraud through cash transfer applications.
Subsequently, Olayeye and his associates purportedly utilized these illicit proceeds to acquire Bitcoin through online platforms.
Additionally, it is alleged that they obscured the conspiracy’s ties to Nigeria by renting Internet Protocol addresses linked to computers situated in the United States for the purpose of executing fraudulent transactions.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General initiated the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to consolidate the resources of the Department of Justice in collaboration with various government agencies, aiming to strengthen efforts to combat and prevent fraud related to the pandemic.
The Task Force enhances the investigation and prosecution of the most responsible domestic and international criminal entities and supports agencies responsible for managing relief programs to thwart fraud.
This is achieved by improving and integrating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and strategies to detect fraudulent individuals and their schemes, and sharing and utilizing information and insights obtained from previous enforcement actions.
Source; U.S Dept of Justice Report.
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