Nigerian faces sentencing for unemployment fraud in US

A Nigerian man, Akinpelumi Oyewusi, has entered a guilty plea to charges of unemployment insurance fraud totaling $415,874. The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland revealed that Oyewusi, residing in Hyattsville, Maryland, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors stated that Oyewusi, along with his accomplices, orchestrated the fraudulent scheme between September 2020 and March 2021, targeting state workforce agencies, particularly the Maryland Department of Labour, in order to acquire illicit unemployment insurance benefits.

The perpetrators allegedly utilized the identities of genuine individuals, incorporating their names and Social Security numbers, to submit false unemployment claims to the relevant authorities in Maryland and California. These fraudulent claims were bolstered with false information regarding the victims' employment and unemployment status.

The stolen funds were subsequently loaded onto debit cards and dispatched to various locations, including Maryland and other states. Oyewusi meticulously monitored the delivery of these fraudulent debit cards via United States Postal Service notifications and subsequently withdrew cash from the compromised accounts. According to the court documents, photographs from ATMs documented Oyewusi withdrawing $18,000 from cards associated with six fraudulent claims between December 2020 and March 2021.

Bank records further revealed that he withdrew approximately $69,000 from the cards during the course of the scheme. Oyewusi, directly implicated in a minimum of $415,874.63 in losses and personally benefiting from at least $25,000, was set to be sentenced on December 3 at 2 pm.