A Nigerian monarch from the Southwest region of the country, the Apetu of Ipetumodu, Oba Joseph Oloyede, who was reported missing in March 2024, has been found in FBI custody.
He is facing serious charges of defrauding the U.S. government of $4.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds.
It was gathered that the Nigerian monarch, also a U.S. citizen, is currently battling a 13-count fraud indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
According to U.S. court documents, Mr. Oloyede was arrested on May 4, 2024, after a warrant was issued for his apprehension.
The FBI accuses him of orchestrating a fraudulent scheme through his six registered companies, obtaining loans meant for struggling businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, the U.S. government introduced financial aid programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) to support businesses affected by the pandemic.
However, loan applicants were required to submit tax records, wage statements, and other financial documents proving their eligibility.
Meanwhile, investigations revealed that Mr. Oloyede allegedly falsified these documents and misused the funds for personal expenses, in violation of federal law.
FBI records show that in June 2020 alone, Mr. Oloyede secured over $100,000 in loans for four of his six companies, including Available Tax Services, Available Tutors, Available Financial, and Available Transportation. On October 7, 2021, he received a $500,000 loan for JO&A, followed by another $500,000 loan two days later for Available Transportation.
Further investigations suggest that the monarch, an accountant by profession, assisted co-conspirators in executing similar fraud schemes, charging them a percentage of the loan amount upon disbursement.
“Oloyede assisted co-conspirators and confederate borrowers who submitted and caused to be submitted PPP and EIDL loan applications containing false information,” the indictment stated.
On April 3, 2024, a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio indicted Mr. Oloyede alongside Edward Oluwasanmi for conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering.
Prosecutors allege that from April 2020 to February 2022, the duo fraudulently obtained over $4.2 million in SBA-guaranteed relief funds.
Mr. Oloyede reportedly pocketed $1.7 million for his own businesses and another $1.3 million by submitting falsified applications for co-conspirators.
The investigation is being conducted by the FBI, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General (DOT-OIG), under the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) Fraud Task Force.
Crowned in 2019, the Apetu of Ipetumodu frequently travelled between Nigeria and the U.S. to attend to both his royal and personal affairs.
His prolonged absence left the royal stool of Ipetumodu vacant for nearly a year, raising concerns among indigenes, particularly as he missed three major traditional festivals, including the annual Odun Egungun and Odun Edi.
DOT-OIG, as part of the PRAC Fraud Task Force, is conducting this investigation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.
In April 2024, a federal grand jury in Cleveland returned a 13-count indictment charging two individuals including Oloyede for their alleged roles in a scheme to fraudulently obtain approximately $4.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Oloyede, 61, of Medina, Ohio and Edward Oluwasanmi, 61, of Willoughby, Ohio, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering offences.
According to the indictment, disclosed in a release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Ohio, from in or around April 2020, and continuing through or about February 28, 2022, Oloyede and Oluwasanmi devised a scheme to defraud the SBA and financial institutions by obtaining COVID-19 relief funds from the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) under false pretences.
The indictment states that Oloyede and Oluwasanmi submitted PPP and EIDL loan applications containing false information for entities under their control and submitted falsified tax and wage documents to support these applications.
The indictment alleges that they obtained approximately $1.2 million in SBA funds for Oluwasanmi’s entities and $1.7 million for Oloyede’s entities.
Oloyede is also alleged to have submitted falsified PPP and EIDL loan applications in the names of other co-conspirators and Confederate borrowers and their businesses, obtaining approximately $1.3 through those applications for a total of at least $4.2 million obtained through the fraud.
