Three Nigerian nationals—Kamaldeen Karaole, Stephen Olamigoke, and Johnson Omodusonu—have been sentenced to over eight years in prison in the United States for their involvement in a COVID-19 unemployment benefits fraud scheme.
The scheme, which defrauded the government of $520,910, involved stealing and using at least 168 Unemployment Insurance debit cards in 2020.
According to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, the trio used 98 of these cards to withdraw cash from various ATMs across the country.
One of the men has also agreed to be deported to Nigeria after serving his prison sentence.
It reads: “These cards, issued by the states of California, Arizona, and Nevada, were being periodically loaded with benefits. None of the cards belonged to the members of the conspiracy — they were all in the names of real individuals.
“To obtain the cards, other members of the conspiracy located outside the United States used stolen personally identifiable information to file numerous false unemployment claims with various state workforce agencies.
“The trio used 98 of the cards to withdraw cash from various ATMs in and around Indianapolis, often making multiple withdrawals within the span of just a few minutes. In total, they completed 529 withdrawals, stealing $520,910 in benefits.”
Following their arrests, they were arraigned on different charges bordering on conspiracy and aggravated identity theft, among others.
The statement stated that 24-year-old Karaole was charged with aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit access device fraud, and access device fraud, to which he pleaded guilty.
Karaole was sentenced to four years and three months’ imprisonment and two years of supervised release.
Similarly, 23-year-old Olamigoke was found guilty of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and access device fraud, and was sentenced to two and a half years’ imprisonment and two years of supervised release.
Also, 24-year-old Omodusonu of Indianapolis was found guilty of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and access device fraud, and was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and two years of supervised release.
The statement also said: “Each defendant was also ordered to pay $520,910 in restitution.
“At the time Stephen Olamigoke entered his guilty plea, he acknowledged that upon completion of his sentence, he will be subject to removal from the United States.”
Equally, a France-based Nigerian, Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu, faces up to 47 years’ imprisonment following his extradition to the US for alleged involvement in wire fraud, hacking, and identity theft, which resulted in losses of $819,000 to victims.
According to the US DoJ, in 2019, Amachukwu, along with other conspirators, allegedly hacked into “US-based tax preparation businesses, including several businesses located in New York, Texas, and other states, by utilising spear-phishing emails to obtain access to these businesses’ electronic systems.”
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