Nigerian Man Set to Bag 20-year Jail Term Over $10million Covid-19 Fraud in U.S.

A 40-year-old Nigerian man simply identified as Yomi Jones Olayeye faces up to 20 years in prison after pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and identity theft.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Nigerian national, pleaded guilty to charges from large scale scheme to defraud U.S. Covid-19 unemployment assistance programs of $10 million.

Daily Observer recalls that Olaleye was apprehended in August 2024 at John F. Kennedy International Airport and has since remained in the federal custody.

It was noted that sentencing has been dated from August 13,2025, by the USA District Judge Mark L. Wolf.

In a statement by the federal prosecutors, it was revealed that between March and July 2020, Olaleye and his co-conspirators submitted fraudulent claims to many pandemic era programs, including Traditional Unemployment Insurance ( UI ), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance ( PUA ) and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation ( FPUC ). The fraudsters from Nigeria are believed to have targeted systems in Massachusetts and over eight US. states.

It was revealed that fraudulent scheme involved using using stolen personal information acquired illegally to file false claims in the names of unsuspecting U.S. residents. The conspirators allegedly opened a U.S bank and prepaid card accounts to receive the benefits and enlisted U.S indigene to transfer the proceeds using mobile payment apps.

U.S. investigators further revealed that the Nigerian fraudsters laundered the funds by converting them into Bitcoin.

The fraud ring filed for over $10 million in benefits, but they successfully obtained more than $1.5 million across U.S. states, including Maine, Ohio, Washington, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Montana, and Hawaii.

The Nigerian fraudster, Olaleye, now faces up to 20 years in prison on the wire fraud and consistency charges along with a compulsory 2 years sentence for aggravated identity theft, which must be served consecutively.

However, the case is being prosecuted by Assistance U.S. Attorney Seth B. Boston and Meghan C. Cleary of the Securities, Financial and Cyber Fraud Unit. The investigation was carried out by the U.S Secret Service, the Department of Labour Office of Inspector General, and the FBI.