Nigerian Man Sentenced to Six-and-a-Half Years in US Prison Over $5m COVID-19 Fraud -

A Nigerian national, Adepoju Babatunde Salako, has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years in a United States federal prison for his role in a multi-million-dollar COVID-19 relief fraud scheme.

The 34-year-old, who resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, received a 78-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

According to a statement released by the United States Department of Justice, Salako also agreed to plead guilty to seven additional counts of wire fraud in the District of Alaska as part of his plea agreement.

The court further ordered him to pay $2,581,002.50 in restitution to victims affected by the fraudulent scheme.
Investigations revealed that Salako participated in the fraud throughout most of 2021, exploiting financial relief programmes introduced by the United States government during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Authorities said the criminal operation fraudulently obtained more than $5 million from several government support initiatives, including the Paycheck Protection Program, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan programme, and multiple state unemployment benefit schemes.

Court documents showed that Salako and two accomplices used stolen personal identities to submit fraudulent applications for pandemic relief loans and unemployment benefits.

Prosecutors stated that Salako’s role involved receiving funds from romance scam victims and government agencies before laundering the money to China and Nigeria.

He reportedly kept about 25 per cent of the proceeds as his commission.
Reacting to the sentence, United States Attorney Peter McNeilly condemned the crime, noting that the convict and his associates exploited innocent victims and defrauded American taxpayers of millions of dollars.

Also commenting, Matthew Modafferi of the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General warned that the conviction serves as a strong reminder that those who abuse government resources for criminal gain will face severe consequences under the law.