JUST-IN: Osun Gov’t May Sack Monarch Jailed In US For $4.2m COVID-19 Fraud

Save for last-minute change, the Osun State government will depose the Apetu of Ipetumodu, Oba Joseph Oloyede, following his sentencing for more than four years in prison in the United States.

Oba Oloyede was on Tuesday jailed 56 months by a US District Judge Christopher A. Boyko over $4.2m COVID-19 fraud.

The Osun State government had weeks ago said it will only decide the monarch’s fate after his trial in the US.

The US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, in a statement on Tuesday, said 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,” the statement added.

The US Attorney’s Office said Oba Oloyede led a conspiracy to exploit COVID-19 emergency loan programmes created for struggling businesses in the US.

“From about April 2020 to February 2022, Oloyede and his co-conspirator, Edward Oluwasanmi, conspired to submit fraudulent applications for loans that were made available through the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act,” the Attorney’s office further said.

In April, the duo pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax fraud charges linked to a pandemic relief scam that siphoned over $4.2m in federal stimulus funds.

The court was told that Oloyede, who also worked as a tax preparer, “operated five businesses and one nonprofit, while Oluwasanmi owned an additional three business entities.

“Both defendants used their businesses to submit loan applications using false information.

“They obtained approximately $1.2 million in SBA funds for Oluwasanmi’s entities and $1.7 million for Oloyede’s entities,” the statement added.

According to investigators, “Oloyede submitted fraudulent PPP and EIDL applications in the names of some of his clients and their businesses.

“In exchange, Oloyede would receive 15-20% of their loans as the fee, or kickback, for obtaining the loans for them, without reporting this income to the IRS on his own tax returns.”

The prosecutors said the funds were then used for personal gain by Oloyede and accomplice.

“Investigators learned that the defendant used funds obtained from these loans to acquire land and build a home and purchase a luxury vehicle,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office disclosed.

In all, Oloyede “caused the SBA to approve 38 fraudulent applications, amounting to $4,213,378 in disbursed loans and advances.”

His co-conspirator, Oluwasanmi, 62, of Willoughby, was earlier sentenced in July to 27 months in prison.

He was also ordered to pay more than $1.2 million in restitution, forfeit a commercial property purchased with fraud proceeds, and surrender more than $600,000 held in financial accounts.

The US Attorney’s Office emphasised 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 statement added.