The United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation have arrested Abidemi Rufai, a Senior Special Assistant to Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, over $350,000 employment fraud.
Rufai was arrested at the John F Kennedy International Airport in New York based on criminal complaint.
He was subsequently charged with defrauding Washington State Employment Security Department of over $350,000.
According to the US Department of Justice, District of Washington, 42-year-old Rufai was alleged to have used the pseudonym Sandy Tang and the stolen identities of more than 100 Washington residents to file fraudulent claims with Employment Security Department for unemployment benefits last year during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Acting US Attorney Tessa Gorman said, “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.”
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.
Meanwhile, Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has suspended his Special Assistant Mr Abidemi Rufai, over alleged unemployment benefits fraud in the United States.
In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Kunle Somorin, Governor Abiodun said the state government had received the disturbing news of the arrest of Mr Rufai in New York.
Governor Abiodun said his administration was committed to ensuring open, transparent, accountable and morally upright administration, adding that his administration would not condone any act of criminality by anyone in the state.
