By Abiola Olawale
The Apetu of Ipetumodu, Oba Joseph Oloyede, has reportedly found himself at the centre of a major international legal crisis.
It was gathered that Oba Oloyede who is a traditional ruler in Nigeria and a US-trained accountant, is currently being detained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States, facing allegations of defrauding the U.S. government of $4.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds.
The New Diplomat reports that Oba Oloyede, ascended to the throne as the Apetu of Ipetumodu in July 2019, succeeding Oba James Adegoke, who passed away in 2017.
Ipetumodu, located in the Ife North Local Government Area of Osun State, is a historic Yoruba community.
The allegations against Oba Oloyede stem from a scheme to fraudulently obtain $4.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds guaranteed by the US Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
These funds, according to reports, were intended to support businesses struggling during the global pandemic, but prosecutors accused Oba Oloyede and his co-conspirator, one Mr Edward Oluwasanmi of exploiting the system for personal gain.
According to the 13-count indictment filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Oba Oloyede and Oluwasanmi engaged in a conspiracy from April 2020 to February 2022.
The charges include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud involvement and money laundering.
The indictment details how the duo allegedly submitted falsified applications for loans under the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
These applications reportedly contained false information, supported by fabricated tax records, wage statements, and other financial documents.
The FBI investigation revealed that Oba Oloyede obtained approximately $1.7 million in relief funds for his businesses, which included six registered companies: Available Tax Services, Available Tutors, Available Financial, Available Transportation, and JO&A.
In June 2020 alone, he secured over $100,000 in loans for four of these companies. On October 7, 2021, he received a $500,000 loan for JO&A, followed by another $500,000 loan two days later for Available Transportation. Prosecutors alleged that Oloyede misused these funds for personal expenses, in violation of federal law.
In addition to defrauding the government on behalf of his entities, Oba Oloyede is accused of assisting co-conspirators and confederate borrowers in submitting falsified PPP and EIDL applications.
Through these efforts, he allegedly obtained an additional $1.3 million, bringing the total amount defrauded to at least $4.2 million.
The indictment suggested that Oloyede charged co-conspirators a percentage of the loan amounts upon disbursement, further profiting from the scheme.
He was said to have been arrested by the FBI on May 4, 2024, after reportedly going missing from his community in Ipetumodu in March 2024.
The investigation into Oloyede’s activities was reportedly conducted by multiple US agencies, including the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and the US Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General (DOT-OIG), as part of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) Fraud Task Force.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Edward Brydle in the Northern District of Ohio.
