Abidemi Rufai, a Senior Special Assistant to Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, faces up to 30 years in prison following his arrest in New York for employment fraud.
Rufai was arrested by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation for $350,000 employment fraud.
FBI agents arrested Rufai on Friday evening at the John F Kennedy International Airport in New York, following a criminal complaint, and was subsequently charged with defrauding Washington State Employment Security Department of over $350,000.
The US Department of Justice, District of Washington said 42-year-old Rufai was alleged to have used the pseudonym Sandy Tang and the stolen identities of more than 100 Washington residents to make fraudulent claims with Employment Security Department for unemployment benefits last year during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Rufai also filed fraudulent unemployment claims with Hawaii, Wyoming, Massachusetts, Montana, New York, and Pennsylvania. Rufai used variations of a single e-mail address in a manner intended to evade automatic detection by fraud systems. By using this practice, Rufai made it appear that each claim was connected with a different email account,” Acting US Attorney Tessa Gorman said.
The criminal complaint also said Rufai mailed some of the proceeds of his fraud to the Jamaica and New York addresses of his relatives with more than $288,000 deposits between March and August 2020.
“Since the first fraud reports to our office in April 2020, we have worked diligently with a federal law enforcement team to track down the criminals who stole funds designated for pandemic relief,” said Gorman. “This is the first, but will not be the last, significant arrest in our ongoing investigation of ESD fraud.”
“Greed is a powerful motivator. Unfortunately, the greed alleged to this defendant affects all taxpayers. The FBI and our partners will not stand idly by while individuals attempt to defraud programs meant to assist American workers and families suffering the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, Special Agent in Charge FBI Seattle, Donald Voiret, said.”
El-Rufai scheduled for a detention hearing Wednesday, after his initial appearance on Saturday in New York.
