US Police arrests Gov Dapo Abiodun’s aide over N312 billion Washington State’s COVID-19 fraud

A longtime Associate of Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State who currently serves as his Senior Special Assistants (SSAs) On Special Duties, Abidemi Rufai, has been arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States for his role in a $650 million (N312 billion) employment fraud.

The Seattle Times reported that Mr Rufai was arrested at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport by Federal agents on Friday as he attempted to flee the country.

Mr Rufai has lived in Lekki, Lagos, for years as Governor Abiodun’s neighbour and business partner. He appointed him as a Special Duties aide when he became governor, a position Nigerian political elite usually reserve for trusted associates.

Mr Abiodun himself was exposed as a certificate forger after he falsely claimed to have attended colleges and filed fake documents of his several schools. He was never prosecuted for the offence before emerging governor and currently enjoys immunity from criminal charges as a serving governor.

It was not immediately clear whether or not the governor was involved in the fraud or knew about his aide’s exploits.

Newsflash Nigeria learnt that Abidemi Rufai appeared in Federal court Saturday on charges that he used the identities of more than 100 Washington residents to steal more than $350,000 in unemployment benefits from the Washington state Employment Security Department during the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

A detention hearing was scheduled for Wednesday.

Wire fraud is punishable by up to thirty years in prison when it relates to benefits paid in connection with a presidentially-declared disaster or emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is the first, but will not be the last, significant arrest in our ongoing investigation of ESD fraud,” said Tessa Gorman, acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, in a statement Monday.

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According to the Seattle Times, Rufai is scheduled for a detention hearing Wednesday.

His arrest comes almost a year after officials announced they were temporarily suspending unemployment benefits payments after discovering that criminals had used stolen Social Security numbers and other personal information to file bogus claims for federal and state unemployment benefits.

Within days, officials disclosed that “hundreds of millions of dollars” had likely been stolen in a fraud scheme that law enforcement officials and cybercrime experts said was partly based in Nigeria.

“Since the first fraud reports to our office in April 2020, we have worked diligently with a federal law enforcement team to track down the criminals who stole funds designated for pandemic relief,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Gorman.

“This is the first, but will not be the last, significant arrest in our ongoing investigation of ESD fraud,” Gorman said further.

The criminal complaint alleged 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.

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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.

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 relative. Law enforcement determined more than $288,000 was deposited into an American bank account controlled by Rufai between March and August 2020.

“Greed is a powerful motivator. Unfortunately, the greed alleged to this defendant affects all taxpayers,” said Donald Voiret, Special Agent in Charge FBI Seattle.

“The FBI and our partners will not stand idly by while individuals attempt to defraud programs meant to assist American workers and families suffering the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

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The case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG). The fraud on ESD is being investigated cooperatively by the FBI, DOL-OIG, Social Security Office of Inspector General, U.S. Secret Service, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations. The Washington Employment Security Department is cooperating in the investigation.

The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Seth Wilkinson, Cindy Chang, and Benjamin Diggs of the Western District of Washington, and Trial Attorney Jane Lee of DOJ’s Cyber Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS).

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