Rufai
After almost two years in police custody,embattled Ogun Governor Special Adviser, Abidemi Rufai has pleaded guilty to wire fraud in the United States.
His confessions coming nearly two years after thieves defrauded Washington state of $650 million in unemployment benefits, a former Nigerian government official has pleaded guilty to his role in the heist.
U.S. wire fraud: Court freezes Rufai, Abiodun’s aide’s bank accounts, seizes Lekki home
Abidemi Rufai, 45, of Lekki, Nigeria, pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to charges that he used stolen Social Security numbers and other personal data to file $350,763 in fake claims for pandemic unemployment benefits in spring of 2020, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle said Wednesday.
Rufai, who has been in custody since his May 2021 arrest at New York’s Kennedy International Airport as he was about to fly to Nigeria, was working as a special assistant to the governor of Nigeria’s Ogun state at the time.
Rufai also pleaded guilty to stealing benefits from other states, as well as another $250,000 from other federal programs, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office statement. From 2017 and 2020, Rufai filed fraudulent claims for $1.7 million in federal tax refunds, of which $90,877 was paid out.
Rufai has agreed to repay the stolen funds, though it wasn’t clear how he would make payments or whether his agreement meant he still had access to the stolen funds.
“He has agreed to disclose all of his assets and to cooperate in US government efforts to recover on those assets,” U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson Emily Langlie said in an email Wednesday. “At this point we don’t know what kind of recovery will result.”
Source:Seattle Times
