A traditional ruler from Osun State, Nigeria, Oba Joseph Oloyede, the Apetu of Ipetumodu, has been sentenced to four years and eight months in a United States federal prison for his involvement in a $4.2 million COVID-19 relief fraud scheme.
The sentence was handed down on Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Christopher Boyko, who also ordered the monarch to pay $4.2 million in restitution to the U.S. government.
In addition, Oba Oloyede is required to pay $195,000 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for filing a false tax return. Judge Boyko also ruled that he must forfeit $96,000 seized from his bank account, as well as a property located on Foote Road, which he purchased in 2021 for $130,000.
While delivering the sentence, Justice Boyko remarked that Oloyede was a “very smart guy who did a lot of stupid things,” noting that the punishment could have been more severe if not for the monarch’s health conditions.
Oba Oloyede, who has lived in the U.S. for years and worked as an accountant and information systems expert, was installed as the Apetu of Ipetumodu in July 2019.
He was arrested in early 2024 alongside Nigerian pastor Edward Oluwasanmi. Both men were implicated in a coordinated scheme to fraudulently obtain pandemic relief funds. They faced 13 counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, money laundering, and engaging in monetary transactions involving criminally derived property.
The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of its broader crackdown on pandemic-related financial crimes.
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