A Nigerian man, Yomi Jones Olayeye, also known as “Sabbie,” has been arrested for allegedly defrauding the United States government of at least $10 million in COVID-19 unemployment benefits. Olayeye was detained on August 13 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York after arriving from Lagos, Nigeria.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Olayeye and his co-conspirators are accused of orchestrating a sophisticated scheme that targeted three pandemic assistance programs administered by the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance: Traditional Unemployment Insurance (UI), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC).
Between March and July 2020, Olayeye and his associates allegedly used personally identifiable information (PII) purchased from criminal internet forums to fraudulently apply for unemployment benefits, posing as eligible state residents affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. They opened U.S. bank accounts and prepaid debit card accounts to receive the funds using the stolen PII. Additionally, they recruited U.S.-based account holders to receive and transfer the fraudulent proceeds via cash transfer applications, using the illicit gains to purchase Bitcoin through online marketplaces.
The scheme reportedly netted Olayeye and his co-conspirators over $1.5 million in fraudulent assistance payments. If convicted, Olayeye faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud, with an additional two years for aggravated identity theft.
Olayeye made his first court appearance in New York on August 14 and is scheduled to appear in federal court in Boston today.