The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested Oba Joseph Oloyede, the Apetu of Ipetumodu in the Ife North Council Area of Osun State, on charges of defrauding the US government of $4.2 million in COVID-19 fraud.
According to reports, the Apetu of Ipetumodu allegedly fabricated documents in order to obtain loans from the US government for COVID-19-affected enterprises.
The U.S. citizen monarch is presently facing a 13-count fraud charge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, according to Sahara Reporters.
The outlet referenced US court documents that state that Oba Oloyede was taken into custody on May 4, 2024, following the issuance of a warrant for his arrest.
He was charged by the FBI of using his six registered companies to get the loan. In order to prove their eligibility, the loan applicants had to provide tax returns, pay stubs, and other financial information.
The article claims that investigations revealed that Oba Oloyede violated federal law by allegedly falsifying these documents and misusing the money for personal needs.
According to FBI data, Mr. Oloyede obtained more than $100,000 in loans for four of his six businesses—Available Tax Services, Available Tutors, Available Financial, and Available Transportation—just in June 2020. It stated that he was given a $500,000 loan for JO&A on October 7, 2021, and another $500,000 loan for Available Transportation two days later.
Subsequent inquiries allegedly revealed that the monarch charged co-conspirators a portion of the loan amount upon distribution, assisting them in carrying out similar fraud schemes.
According to the statement, Oloyede helped co-conspirators and confederate borrowers file and cause to be submitted loan applications for PPP and EIDL that contained false information.
According to the article, Oba Oloyede and Edward Oluwasanmi were indicted by a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on April 3, 2024, for conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering.
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The two allegedly stole more than $4.2 million in SBA-guaranteed relief payments between April 2020 and February 2022, according to the prosecution.
The Oba allegedly submitted fictitious applications for co-conspirators, pocketing an additional $1.3 million in addition to $1.7 million for his own companies.
“Under the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) Fraud Task Force, the FBI, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General (DOT-OIG) are conducting the investigation,” Sahara Reporters continued.
