Three US-based Nigerians jailed eight years for $520,910 fraud

US court

Three Nigerians based in the United States, Kamaldeen Karaole, Stephen Olamigoke, and Johnson Omodusonu, have been sentenced to more than eight years in jail for defrauding the US of $520,910 in a COVID-19 unemployment benefits fraud scheme.

This is just as one of the convicts also agreed to be deported to Nigeria upon completing his jail term.

PUNCH Metro learnt from a statement obtained from the US Department of Justice on Thursday that the trio stole, in 2020, no fewer than 168 Unemployment Insurance debit cards belonging to other people.

According to the statement, court documents revealed that between August and October 2020, the convicts, in connivance with other suspects outside the US, used the stolen debit cards and passwords to file false unemployment benefits claims.

The statement added that 98 of the cards were used to withdraw cash from various Automated Teller Machines across the US.

It read, “These cards, issued by the states of California, Arizona, and Nevada, were being periodically loaded with benefits. None of the cards belonged to the members of the conspiracy — they were all in the names of real individuals.

“To obtain the cards, other members of the conspiracy located outside the United States used stolen personally identifiable information to file numerous false unemployment claims with various state workforce agencies.

“The trio used 98 of the cards to withdraw cash from various ATMs in and around Indianapolis, often making multiple withdrawals within the span of just a few minutes. In total, they completed 529 withdrawals, stealing $520,910 in benefits.”

Following their arrests, they were arraigned on different charges bordering on conspiracy and aggravated identity theft, among others. Punch