The Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede, has been sentenced to more than four years in prison in the United States.
The 62 year old monarch, who holds dual U.S. and Nigerian citizenship and resides in Medina, Ohio, was on August 26 handed 56 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Christopher A. Boyko.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio in a statement on Tuesday, the monarch, was also ordered to “serve three years of supervised release after imprisonment and pay $4,408,543.38 in restitution.:00
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Oloyede led a conspiracy to exploit COVID-19 emergency loan programmes created for struggling businesses.
The court was told that Oloyede, who also worked as a tax preparer, “operated five businesses and one nonprofit, while Oluwasanmi owned an additional three business entities.
His co-conspirator, Oluwasanmi, 62, of Willoughby, was earlier sentenced in July to 27 months in prison.
He was also ordered to pay more than $1.2 million in restitution, forfeit a commercial property purchased with fraud proceeds, and surrender more than $600,000 held in financial accounts.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office emphasized the significance of the conviction, noting that the case was jointly investigated by the Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General, the FBI Cleveland Division, and IRS-Criminal Investigations as part of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Fraud Task Force.
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