Crime
US Court jails Governor Abiodun’s former aide, Abidemi Rufai five years for fraud
A United States District Court in Tacoma on Monday sentenced Abidemi Rufai, a former senior special assistant to the Ogun State governor Dapo Abiodun, to five years in prison for wire fraud.
Rufai, a 45-year-old, was arrested at JFK International Airport in New York on his way to Nigeria in May 2021 for stealing more than $500,000 in pandemic relief benefits from the United State government.
He pleaded guilty in court admitting that he used stolen identities to receive more than $350,000 in pandemic-related unemployment benefits from Washington state.
Rufai employed a feature of Gmail, Google’s free email service, that let him use a single email account, altered by the addition of periods to the address, to file multiple unemployment claims in Washington and elsewhere using stolen Social Security numbers and other personal data.
Attorney Nick Brown in a news release said that “He (Rufai) orchestrated ‘mystery shopper’ scams, business email compromise attempts, and filed fake tax returns to financially harm individuals and businesses,
“But when disaster struck, so did Mr Rufai. Whether it was hurricane disaster relief, small business loans, or COVID unemployment benefits, he stole aid that should have gone to disaster victims in the United States,” he added
According to records filed in the case, since 2017, 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. The various agencies involved paid out more than $600,000 to him.
Rufai’s exploit in the United States did not start with COVID-19. In September and October 2017, he submitted 49 disaster relief claims connected to Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma. He filed $24,500 in false claims and was paid on 13 claims totalling $6,500.
He also defrauded the Small Business Administration (SBA) by attempting to obtain Economic Injury Disaster loans (EIDL) tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. Between April 8, 2020, and June 26, 2020, he submitted 19 fraudulent EIDL applications. SBA paid out $10,000 based on the applications.
Rufai during his trial apologized in a letter to the court and blamed his actions on gambling addiction and pressure to provide for his wife and children.
“my actions are outrageous and inexcusable.
“Your honour, I am now a rehabilitated man that is ready to live a crime-free life and also be a responsible man to my family and my community as a whole,” he wrote.
The trial judge, Benjamin Settle at the sentencing hearing said, “The motivation was greed, unrestrained greed, and callousness towards those who have suffered.”
The Judge however sentenced Rufai to 60 months in jail and ordered him to pay more than $600,000 in restitution.
The Anambra State Police Command has foiled a cult initiation ceremony in Nawfia, Njikoka Local Government Area of the state.
Spokesperson for the Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday in Awka.
According to Ikenga, the operation was carried out by police operatives around 9:30am on June 15, leading to the arrest of six suspects at the scene.
Recovered during the raid were one Jojef pump action gun, two cartridges, and a golden-coloured Lexus SUV with registration number ATN 202 AE. Other items found include two cutlasses, two scissors, a cap bearing the inscription of the Supreme Vikings Confraternity, charms, and substances suspected to be hard drugs.
“They are currently undergoing police interrogation to get more insight into their modus operandi, after which the case will be charged to court on the conclusion of the investigations,” Ikenga stated.
The police spokesperson reassured residents of the command’s unwavering commitment to fighting cultism and other related crimes across the state.
An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, on Wednesday, remanded two persons, Olaitan Fasasi and Kehinde Tobiloba in a correctional facility over alleged attempted murder.
Fasasi, 40, and Tobiloba, 26, whose addresses were not provided, are being charged with conspiracy, attempted murder and membership of a secret society.
The Magistrate, Mr L.A Owolabi, did not take the plea of the defendants for want of jurisdiction.
Owolabi directed the police to forward the case file to the Director of Public Prosecution for legal advice.
He thereafter adjourned the case until May 31 for mention.
The Prosecutor, Josephine Ikhayere, told the court that the defendants committed the offences at about 5.02p.m on Feb. 15, at Mushin, Lagos.
She said that Fasasi, Tobiloba and others now at large, attempted to commit murder by shooting at a resident, Alfred Ademola.
“They armed themselves with a locally made gun. They belong to Eiye Confraternity, a group proscribed by law,”, she said.
Ikhayere said that the offences contravened Sections 230(1) and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2012.
He said that the actions of the defendants also contravened Section 2(3)(a)(b)(c)(d) of the unlawful societies and Cultism Law of Lagos State Law.
An Area Court in Jos, on Tuesday, sentenced one Jeptha John, to three months imprisonment for stealing a Redmi mobile phone valued at N165, 000.
The judge, Shawomi Bokkos, sentenced the John after he pleaded guilty to the offence.
The judge, however, gave the convict an option to pay N20, 000 fine and N50, 000 restitution to the complainant.
Bokkos said that if the convict defaulted in paying the restitution, three months should be added to his sentence to make it six months imprisonment.
Earlier, the police prosecutor, Insp Monday Dabit, told the court that the case was reported at the B Division Police Station, Jos, on Dec. 1, 2024, by Ms Nerat Danjuma.
He said that the complainant alleged that the defendant trespassed into her house and stole her mobile phone valued at N165, 000.
The prosecutor further told the court that the offence contravened the Plateau State Penal Code, Law of Northern Nigeria.
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