A U.S. District Court in Ohio has sentenced a Nigerian traditional ruler, Oba Joseph Oloyede of Ipetumodu, Osun State, to four and a half years in prison for his role in a multi-million-dollar COVID-19 relief fraud.
Judge Christopher A. Boyko handed down the sentence on Tuesday, August 26, after Oloyede, a dual citizen of Nigeria and the United States, pleaded guilty to multiple charges.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office (Northern District of Ohio), the 62-year-old monarch was convicted of: One count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, Three counts of engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property and Two counts of making and subscribing a false tax return.
The court sentenced him to 56 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $4,408,543.38 in restitution, forfeit his Medina, Ohio home on Foote Road (purchased with illicit funds), and surrender $96,006.89 in seized proceeds.
Prosecutors revealed that between April 2020 and February 2022, Oloyede and his accomplice, Edward Oluwasanmi, 62, of Willoughby, conspired to defraud the U.S. Small Business Administration by submitting false loan applications.
The fraudulent claims targeted federal COVID-19 relief programs, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) initiative—funds designed to support small businesses impacted by the pandemic.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) led the probe, which exposed the monarch’s role in laundering proceeds from the scam.
The conviction adds to a growing list of U.S. fraud cases involving Nigerian figures, drawing attention to financial crimes committed under the guise of pandemic aid.
