US court sentences Dapo Abiodun’s ex-aide
Abidemi Rufai, the suspended aide of Governor Dapo Abiodun, has bagged five years imprisonment for fraud in the United States. Authorities in the US preferred charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft against Rufai.
The District Court in Western Tacoma in Washington handed down the sentence on Monday.
the trial judge, Benjamin H. Settle, according to a statement issued by the US Department of Justice, said that “the motivation was greed, unrestrained greed, and a callousness towards those who have suffered.”
Rufai, 45, was accused of stealing nearly $2.4 million from the United States government. He pleaded guilty to the charges in May. Based on his plea agreement with the prosecution, Rufai agreed to pay full restitution of $604,260 to the defrauded agencies.
But the Department of Justice’s statement said he “has not fully cooperated with efforts to identify and forfeit assets that could be used for restitution.”
Seattle Field Office Special Agent in Charge, Bret Kressin, said the sentence “is a result of the culmination of choices he made funding his luxurious lifestyle.”
“His fraud schemes began with filing fraudulent tax returns from stolen identities to pilfering economic aid designed to help disadvantaged workers and families suffering through the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
The prosecution said since 2017, Mr Rufai stole the personal identifying information of more than 20,000 Americans to submit more than $2 million in claims for federally funded disaster relief benefits and fraudulent tax returns.
