Abidemi Rufai, an aide of Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, has been indicted in the United States of America for conspiracy, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for his scheme to steal over $350,000 in unemployment benefits from the Washington State Employment Security Department.
Mr Rufai, alias Sandy Tang, was arrested May 14, 2021 at JFK Airport in New York as he attempted to depart the US for Nigeria.
The 42-year-old, according to acting US Attorney Tessa Gorman, remains detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Prosecutors have asked US District Judge Benjamin Settle to order Rufai detained and transported to the Western District of Washington for arraignment on the indictment.
Rufai is now charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, nine counts of wire fraud and five counts of aggravated identity theft.
The indictment alleges that Rufai used the stolen identities of more than 100 Washington residents to file fraudulent claims with ESD for pandemic-related unemployment benefits. Rufai also filed fraudulent unemployment claims with Hawaii, Wyoming, Massachusetts, Montana, New York, and Pennsylvania. Rufai used variations of a single e-mail address in a manner intended to evade automatic detection by fraud systems. By using this practice, Rufai made it appear that each claim was connected with a different email account.
Prosecutors allege that Rufai caused the fraud proceeds to be paid out to online payment accounts such as ‘Green Dot’ accounts, or wired to bank accounts controlled by “money mules.”
Some of the proceeds were then mailed to the Jamaica, New York address of Rufai’s brother.
Rufai was residing at his brother’s home during part of the period of the fraud.
Law enforcement determined more than $288,000 was deposited into an American bank account controlled by Rufai between March and August 2020.
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud are punishable by up to 30 years in prison when the offence relates to benefits paid in connection with a presidentially declared disaster or emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aggravated identity theft is punishable by a mandatory minimum two-year sentence to run consecutive to any sentence imposed on the other counts of conviction.
Although the defendant’s lawyer Michael Barrows said his client denied “involvement in these transactions” Governor Abiodun has suspended Rufai as aide.
Rufai was denied bail after his first court appearance because his brother Alaba Rufai who is listed in court records, could not post the $300,000 surety bond for his bail.
He got a nurse Nekpen Soyemi to stand surety but the US government said Ms. Soyemi is a suspected fraudster and could not be allowed to stand surety for Rufai.
