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FBI Arrests Yomi Olayeye “Benefit Boys” Over $10million US Unemployment COVID Scam

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Yomi Olayeye, a Nigerian national, has been taken into custody and charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, and identity theft for his purported involvement in a pandemic unemployment assistance fraud scheme totaling $10 million in the United States.

According to a statement released on Monday by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts under the Department of Justice, Olayeye’s alleged actions led to his arrest and subsequent charges.

The statement read, “A Nigerian man was arrested on Aug. 13, 2024 upon arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City on charges that he and other conspired to fraudulently obtain at least $10 million in COVID-19 unemployment benefits.

“Yomi Jones Olayeye, a/k/a “Sabbie,” 40, of Lagos, Nigeria, is charged with one count of wire fraud conspiracy, one count of wire fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft. He made an initial appearance in the Eastern District of New York on Aug. 14, 2024 and will appear in federal court in Boston tomorrow.

“According to the charging document, between March and July 2020, Olayeye and others defrauded three pandemic assistance programs administrated by the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance and other states’ unemployment insurance agencies: traditional unemployment insurance (UI), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC).”

Olayeye and his co-conspirators were alleged to have used stolen personal information to apply for unemployment benefits in multiple states, including Massachusetts, Hawaii, and Indiana.

The statement added, “In total, Olayeye and his co-conspirators allegedly applied for at least $10 million in fraudulent UI, PUA and FPUC from Massachusetts, Hawaii, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Montana, Maine, Ohio and Washington and received more than $1.5 million in assistance to which they were not entitled.

“Specifically, Olayeye and his co-conspirators allegedly used personally identifiable information (PII) they purchased over criminal internet forums to apply for UI, PUA and FPUC – falsely representing themselves to be eligible state residents affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Olayeye and his co-conspirators allegedly used the same fraudulently obtained PII to open U.S. bank and prepaid debit card accounts to receive the assistance payments. It is also alleged that Olayeye and his co-conspirators recruited U.S.-based account holders to receive and transfer the fraud proceeds via cash transfer applications.”

They were also alleged to have used the benefits to purchase Bitcoin and concealed their connection to Nigeria by using US-based IP addresses.

“Olayeye and his co-conspirators then allegedly used the fraudulent proceeds to purchase Bitcoin via online marketplaces.

“It is further alleged that Olayeye and his co-conspirators concealed the conspiracy’s connection to Nigeria by leasing Internet Protocol addresses assigned to computers located in the United States for use in the fraudulent transactions,” the statement read.

The United States Department of Justice further explained that if convicted, Olayeye faces up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, forfeiture, and restitution.

The statement added,”The charges of wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, forfeiture,and restitution.

“The charge of aggravated identity theft calls for a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison to be added to any sentence imposed on the wire fraud charge.

“Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.”

The Attorney General was reported to have established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force on May 17, 2021 to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across the government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.

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37-Year-Old American Nicholas Giroux Jailed For Life Over Murder Of Nigerian boxer Olugbemi

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A 37-year-old man, Nicholas Giroux, has been sentenced to life imprisonment plus an additional 20 years for killing Nigerian-American boxer, Isaiah Olugbemi, in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

According to the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office, Giroux received the sentence on Friday from Judge Richard Trunnell after pleading guilty to first-degree murder and use of a firearm in a violent crime. The prison terms will run consecutively.

Olugbemi, 27, a father and highly regarded amateur boxer, was shot several times by Giroux on June 17, 2024, along Meadowmist Way in Odenton. He later died from his injuries at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

Surveillance video revealed Giroux approaching Olugbemi, firing multiple rounds until he collapsed, and then discharging three more shots before fleeing. Police later recovered 9mm casings from the crime scene.

Investigators noted that Giroux had previously confronted Olugbemi and a neighbour at a cookout about two weeks earlier, where he displayed a firearm, though he did not fire it at that time.

Following the shooting, Giroux confessed during interrogation and directed authorities to the location of the gun he used.

Describing the murder, State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess called it “cruel and senseless,” stressing that the victim had a bright future in boxing.

“Mr. Olugbemi was a father and a rising star in amateur boxing. The callousness and lack of remorse on the part of this Defendant is really disturbing. He deserves this sentence. And to the family and friends of Mr. Olugbemi, I hope that today provides some sense of justice for this terrible ordeal,” Leitess said.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorney Carolynn Grammas, with homicide detectives from the Anne Arundel County Police Department leading the investigation.

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40-Year-Old US-Based Nigerian Daniel Chima Risks 20-Year Jail Term Over ‘$405,000 Romance Scam’

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Daniel Chima Inweregbu, a 40-year-old Nigerian, has pleaded guilty to multiple fraud charges in the United States, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

US prosecutors said Inweregbu conspired to commit mail and wire fraud, while also using a false identity to carry out a romance scam that ran from July 2017 to December 2018.

The scheme, which cost victims over $405,000, involved Inweregbu and his partners contacting Americans through email and messaging platforms. They pretended to be “Larry Pham,” built online romantic relationships, and then tricked victims into sending money to bank accounts they controlled.

Once received, the funds were laundered through intermediaries to conceal their source, ownership, and movement, the DOJ added.

According to court filings:

  • Count 1 carries up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.
  • Count 12 also carries up to 20 years in prison, with a fine of up to $500,000.
  • He must also pay a mandatory $100 special assessment fee for each count.

Sentencing has been fixed for December 4, 2025, before Judge Brown.

This is not Inweregbu’s first conviction. In December 2020, a Federal High Court in Lagos sentenced him to 18 months in prison (with an option of a ₦300,000 fine) for a similar romance scam. He was also ordered to refund $15,000 to the US Consulate.

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Most Trump Tariffs Are Illegal, US Court Rules

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A US appeals court has ruled that most of former President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs are unconstitutional.

Back in April, Trump announced global tariffs on all imports into the United States, including a 14% levy on Nigerian goods. Since then, he has alternated between rolling back some measures and intensifying others.

Trump had argued that the tariffs were legally justified under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which empowers the president to act against “unusual and extraordinary” threats.

But in a 7–4 ruling, the Washington appeals court disagreed, holding that Trump exceeded his authority. The judges noted that the IEEPA “neither mentions tariffs (or any of its synonyms) nor has procedural safeguards that contain clear limits on the president’s power to impose tariffs.”

However, the panel stopped short of cancelling the tariffs outright, leaving room for a potential appeal before the US Supreme Court.

Reacting on Truth Social, Trump insisted his tariffs remain intact:
“ALL TARIFFS ARE STILL IN EFFECT!”

“If these Tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the Country. It would make us financially weak, and we have to be strong,” he wrote.

The former president also expressed confidence that the Supreme Court would eventually uphold his tariff policies.

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