A Pennsylvania-based Nigerian national, Adepoju Babatunde Salako, has been charged with multiple counts of fraud offences over a nationwide COVID-19 employment benefit scheme that netted him more than $5.6 million.
According to the prosecutors, Mr Salako defrauded more than 30 American states, using over 1,000 stolen identities to file for fraudulent COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans to the Small Business Administration and for unemployment insurance benefits between July 2020 and July 2021.
The indictment also alleged that between January 2021 and March 2021, the 32-year-old stole over $16,000 from the Colorado Department of Labour and Employment by using the personal information of the state residents he found on websites such as TruthFinder to apply for 15 separate fraudulent unemployment benefit claims.
Similarly, Mr Salako and his co-conspirators proceeded to other states, including Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and New York, where they applied for at least 10 more fraudulent COVID-19 benefits claims using fake identities, stealing another significant amount from government institutions in the process, the prosecutors said.
In Nevada, the defendant allegedly submitted another fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan application in the name of Turn-Turn-Turn Woodturning, using the stolen identity of a resident in the state.
Authorities said Mr Salako and his co-conspirators stole close to $6 million from various government departments within one year of operation, which the syndicate were able to move through several intermediate accounts using various methods.
They eventually lavished the money on expensive lifestyles or transferred it overseas as currency or in the form of goods such as cars or solar panels.
Mr Salako made his initial appearance in Colorado on June 13, 2025, before Magistrate Judge Scott Varholak of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.
He faces more than 20 years in prison.
