The Apetu of Ipetumodu, Oba Joseph Oloyede, has been sentenced in the United States for COVID-19 loan fraud.
He received 56 months in prison, restitution, forfeiture of assets, and supervised release.
The Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede, has been sentenced to more than four years in prison in the United States after being found guilty of fraud linked to COVID-19 relief funds.
The 62-year-old monarch, who holds both Nigerian and American citizenship, was on Monday, August 26, handed a 56-month jail term by U.S. District Judge Christopher A. Boyko in Ohio. In addition to the prison sentence, he will serve three years of supervised release, pay $4,408,543.38 in restitution, and forfeit his Medina, Ohio home along with nearly $100,000 in fraud proceeds seized by investigators.
According to a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, Oloyede and his associate, Edward Oluwasanmi, orchestrated a conspiracy to exploit emergency loan programs set up under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Between April 2020 and February 2022, the pair submitted multiple fraudulent applications for loans made available through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Court records showed that Oloyede, who also worked as a tax preparer, operated five businesses and a nonprofit, while Oluwasanmi controlled three other entities.
The fraudulent applications secured roughly $1.7 million for Oloyede’s companies and $1.2 million for Oluwasanmi’s. Investigators also revealed that Oloyede used the identities of some of his tax clients and their businesses to submit false Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications.
In exchange, Oloyede demanded 15 to 20 percent of the loan amounts as kickbacks. Prosecutors noted that he failed to report these earnings to the Internal Revenue Service, compounding the charges against him.
Both men pleaded guilty in April to wire fraud and tax fraud, admitting their roles in siphoning more than $4.2 million in federal stimulus funds meant to support struggling businesses during the pandemic.
