A Nigerian man identified as Yomi Olayeye, has been arrested for his alleged involvement in a $10 million COVID-19 unemployment assistance fraud scheme in the United States.
A statement released by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts under the Department of Justice said on Monday that Olayeye was arrested on August 13, 2024.
Olayeye, 40, and his accomplices are accused of using stolen personal information to claim benefits from various pandemic assistance programmes.
They reportedly applied for at least $10 million in fraudulent benefits across multiple states and successfully received over $1.5 million. The indictment claims that they used stolen personally identifiable information (PII) purchased from criminal internet forums to apply for the benefits, posing as eligible residents impacted by the pandemic.
The scheme involved opening U.S. bank and prepaid debit card accounts using the fraudulently obtained PII to receive the benefits. Olayeye and his associates also allegedly recruited U.S.-based account holders to transfer the illicit proceeds via cash transfer applications.
The fraudulent proceeds were then used to purchase Bitcoin through online marketplaces, with efforts made to conceal their connection to Nigeria by using U.S.-based IP addresses.
Olayeye made his initial court appearance on August 14 in the Eastern District of New York and is scheduled to appear in federal court in Boston. If convicted, he faces a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine or twice the gross gain or loss, forfeiture, and restitution.
