Rita Odafe
A man from Nigeria, Yomi Jones Olayeye, also known as “Sabbie,” from Lagos, Nigeria, has been taken into custody in New York alongside his partners for allegedly planning to unlawfully acquire at least $10 million in COVID-19 jobless benefits.
The 40-year-old individual was detained on August 13, 2024, after his arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.
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 revealed this information on Monday, August 19. Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth B. Kosto, Deputy Chief of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is handling the prosecution.
Olayeye faces charges including wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. He appeared for the first time in the Eastern District of New York on Aug. 14, 2024, and is set to appear in federal court in Boston on Tuesday, August 20.
As outlined in the legal document, from March to July 2020, Olayeye and others allegedly cheated three pandemic aid programs run by the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance and other states’ unemployment insurance agencies: traditional unemployment insurance (UI), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC).
Allegedly, Olayeye and his associates acquired personal information via criminal internet forums to apply for UI, PUA, and FPUC, falsely claiming to be eligible residents impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. They purportedly opened U.S. bank and prepaid debit card accounts with the fraudulently obtained information to receive aid payments.
It is also claimed that Olayeye and his partners enlisted U.S.-based account holders to accept and transfer the proceeds through cash apps. The funds were then purportedly used to buy Bitcoin through online platforms. Moreover, they allegedly concealed the link to Nigeria by using U.S.-based IP addresses in fraudulent transactions.
Overall, Olayeye and his partners reportedly applied for over $10 million in deceptive UI, PUA, and FPUC funds from multiple states and got more than $1.5 million in undeserved assistance.
The wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 or double the gain or loss, forfeiture, and restitution. The aggravated identity theft charge mandates a minimum two-year prison term in addition to any sentence for wire fraud. Sentencing is determined by a federal district court judge based on U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and relevant statutes.
The Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force on May 17, 2021, to enhance efforts to combat pandemic-related fraud by pooling Department of Justice resources with other government agencies.
The Task Force works to investigate and prosecute major domestic and international criminals while aiding relief program administrators in preventing fraud through improved coordination, resource identification, fraud detection, and information sharing.
