Abidemi Rufai, a suspended aide of Governor Dapo Abiodun (Ogun-APC), has been hit with a five-year prison sentence for stealing more than $500,000 in pandemic relief benefits in the United States.
He was sentenced by Judge Benjamin Settle on Monday, September 26, 2022, who also ordered Rufai to pay more than $600,000 in restitution.
Abidemi Rufai was wearing a $10,000 watch and $35,000 gold chain when he was arrested at JFK International Airport in New York on his way to Nigeria in May 2021, according to the AP.
Rufai pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, Washington, in May 2022 to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges.
US Prosecutors were able to prove that the 45-year-old had a history of defrauding the U.S. government, including using stolen identities to file for emergency relief after hurricanes in Texas and Florida.
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“He orchestrated ‘mystery shopper’ scams, and business email compromise attempts, and filed fake tax returns to financially harm individuals and businesses. But when disaster struck, so did Mr Rufai. Whether it was hurricane disaster relief, small business loans, or COVID unemployment benefits, he stole aid that should have gone to disaster victims in the United States”, Seattle U.S. Attorney Nick Brown said.
Between April and October 2020, he used a collection of stolen identities, investigators found more than 20,000 of them, with birthdates and social security numbers in one of his email accounts, to file for pandemic-related benefits. He applied with the workforce agencies of at least nine states, including Washington’s Employment Security Department, in the names of at least 224 Americans.
Just after returning to Nigeria in August 2020, Rufai was appointed as a special aide to Governor Abiodun.
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Abidemi Rufai later returned to the U.S., and on May 15, 2021, just a day after prosecutors filed an amended complaint against him, he was arrested while trying to leave the country on a business class flight.
In recorded phone conversations from jail, he discussed moving a large amount of money immediately following his arrest, prosecutors said.
Rufai apologized in a letter to the court, saying “my actions are outrageous and inexcusable.” He blamed them on gambling addiction and pressure to provide for his wife and children.
“Your honour, I am now a rehabilitated man that is ready to live a crime-free life and also be a responsible man to my family and my community as a whole,” he wrote.
The defense requested a two-and-a-half-year sentence, citing letters from supporters who wrote that Rufai had a charitable foundation that helped pay educational fees for primary students.
The U.S. Justice Department sought nearly six years, saying a longer term was necessary in part to deter others who might commit similar crimes.
“In this case, Rufai successfully used the stolen identities of at least 238 real individuals who qualified for disaster aid and may have needed it urgently. This number does not account for the number of stolen identities Rufai attempted to use but failed,” she said.