HOT GIST ! US Jails Nigerian King Over $4.2m COVID-19 Fraud | Citizen NewsNG
Citizen NewsNG
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Apetu Of Ipetumodu, Oba Joseph Oloyede
A United States District Court has sentenced the Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede, to 56 months in prison over his role in a multimillion-dollar COVID-19 relief fund fraud.
According to a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, the sentence was delivered on Tuesday, August 26, by U.S. District Judge Christopher A. Boyko.
Oba Oloyede, 62, who holds dual Nigerian and U.S. citizenship and resides in Medina, Ohio, was also ordered to pay $4,408,543.38 in restitution, forfeit his Medina residence purchased with fraud proceeds, and surrender an additional $96,006.89 seized by investigators.
He will further serve three years of supervised release after completing his prison term.
Prosecutors revealed that between April 2020 and February 2022, Oloyede and his associate, Edward Oluwasanmi, conspired to exploit emergency loan programs created under the U.S. CARES Act, which was designed to support businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Using five businesses and one nonprofit under Oloyede’s control, and three business entities owned by Oluwasanmi, they submitted fraudulent applications for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL).
Investigators said Oloyede was responsible for 38 fraudulent applications, which led to $4,213,378 in disbursed loans.
He also prepared false applications for clients, charging 15–20 per cent kickbacks from their loans, which he failed to declare to the IRS.
The funds, according to investigators, were diverted for personal use, including land purchases, home construction, and a luxury vehicle acquisition.
Oluwasanmi, 62, of Willoughby, Ohio, was earlier sentenced in July 2025 to 27 months in prison and ordered to repay over $1.2 million.
The case was jointly investigated by the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, the FBI Cleveland Division, and IRS-Criminal Investigations.
It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward D. Brydle and James L. Morford.
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