A Nigerian man has pleaded guilty in connection with a conspiracy to fraudulently obtain at least $10 million in COVID-19 unemployment benefits.
Yomi Jones Olayeye, aka ‘Sabbie’, 40, of Lagos, Nigeria, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy, one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
Senior United States District Judge Mark L. Wolf scheduled sentencing for August 13, 2025.
Olayeye was arrested in August 2024 upon arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport and remains in federal custody.
Between March and July 2020, Olayeye and, allegedly, others defrauded three pandemic assistance programmes administrated by the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance and other states’ unemployment insurance agencies: traditional unemployment insurance, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation.
Olayeye, and allegedly his co-conspirators, used personally identifiable information 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 accounts and prepaid debit card accounts to receive the assistance payments.
Olayeye and allegedly his co-conspirators recruited U.S.-based account holders to receive and transfer the fraud proceeds via cash transfer applications. Olayeye and his co-conspirators used the fraudulent proceeds to purchase Bitcoin via online marketplaces.
Olayeye and his co-conspirators allegedly concealed the conspiracy’s connection to Nigeria by leasing Internet Protocol addresses assigned to computers in the United States for use in the fraudulent transactions.
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. They received more than $1.5 million in assistance to which they were not entitled.
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 aggravated identity theft charge calls for a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison to be served consecutively to any sentence imposed on the wire fraud charge.
