US Govt Arrests Governor Dapo Abiodun’s SSA Over Alleged $350,000 Employment Scam
- Governor Dapo Abiodun's aide, Abidemi Rufai, has been arrested over alleged fraud
- The report says that Rufai made his initial appearance on Saturday, May 15, in New York
- The governor's aide is scheduled for a detention hearing on Wednesday, May 19
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Abidemi Rufai, a senior special assistant to Dapo Abiodun, governor of Ogun, has been arrested in the United States over alleged $350,000 unemployment benefits fraud.
FBI Seattle reports that Rufai was quizzed by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation on Saturday, May 15, at the John F Kennedy International Airport in New York following a criminal complaint.
Source: UGC
Legit.ng gathered that he was subsequently charged with defrauding the Washington State Employment Security Department of over $350,000.
According to The Nation report, the suspect was said to have used the stolen identities of more than 100 Washington residents to file fraudulent claims with ESD for pandemic-related unemployment benefits.
It was said that Rufai was accused of using variations of a single e-mail address in a manner intended to evade automatic detection by fraud systems.
Acting U.S. Attorney Gorman said in a statement that more than $288,000 was deposited into an American bank account controlled by Rufai between March and August 2020.
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that EFCC recovered N58 billion ($153m) from former petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
It was reported that the chairman of the commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, made the disclosure in the April edition of the EFCC magazine, EFCC alert.
Bawa also said the anti-graft agency recovered no fewer than 80 choice properties valued at N30 billion ($80m) from the ex-minister.
In a related report, a group, Niger Delta Peoples’ Assembly For Peace and Development (NDPAPD) urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) not to release the funds means for the Niger Delta in its care to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The fund is the $1.6billion statutory contributions made by the International Oil Companies (IOC’s) to oil-producing states in the country.
NDPAPD also asked the governors of the nine oil-producing states in the country to intervene in the situation.
Source: Legit.ng
