A United States federal court has sentenced the Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede, to 56 months in prison for his involvement in a multimillion-dollar COVID-19 relief fraud scheme. The 62-year-old monarch, who holds dual U.S. and Nigerian citizenship and resides in Medina, Ohio, was convicted alongside his associate, Edward Oluwasanmi, for orchestrating fraudulent applications for emergency pandemic loans.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, Judge Christopher A. Boyko handed down the sentence on August 26. In addition to his prison term, Oloyede was ordered to pay $4.4 million in restitution, forfeit his Medina residence purchased with fraud proceeds, and surrender nearly $100,000 seized during investigations. He will also serve three years of supervised release after completing his sentence.
Prosecutors revealed that between April 2020 and February 2022, Oloyede and Oluwasanmi exploited loan programmes established under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Using multiple businesses and a nonprofit organisation, they submitted dozens of falsified applications to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). Investigators confirmed that Oloyede secured approval for 38 fraudulent applications, which resulted in $4.2 million in disbursed funds.
The funds, meant to cushion struggling businesses during the pandemic, were instead diverted for personal enrichment, including land purchases, home construction, and the acquisition of a luxury vehicle. Authorities further disclosed that Oloyede filed fraudulent applications for some clients and demanded between 15 and 20 percent of their loan amounts as kickbacks, none of which were reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Oluwasanmi, 62, of Willoughby, Ohio, had earlier been sentenced in July to 27 months in prison and ordered to repay more than $1.2 million. The case was jointly investigated by the FBI, the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, and IRS Criminal Investigations, before being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward D. Brydle and James L. Morford.
