Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun has suspended his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Special Duties, Abidemi Rufai, following his arrest in New York by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over allegations that he defrauded the Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD) to the tune of $350m unemployment benefits.
Abiodun who reacted through his Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin, expressed concerns over the disturbing news. He however said his government cannot be held responsible for “the action of a full grown adult.”
Rufai, who was an aspirant for the House of Representatives seat in the 2019 general elections under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was arrested on Friday evening at the John F Kennedy International Airport in New York.
According to information provided on the official website of the US Department of Justice on Friday, Rufai was arrested based on a criminal complaint.
He has subsequently been charged to court on allegations of $350,000 (N143m) fraud.
Rufai was alleged to have used the pseudonym Sandy Tang and other stolen identities of Washington residents numbering up to 100 to bid for unemployment benefits accumulating to $350,000 (N143m) from the Employment Security Department during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
He allegedly submitted several unemployment claims to Washington State using stolen identities between March and October 2020.
He was also alleged to have made used of a single Gmail account to file about 102 claims for the ESD benefits and also similarly using it to file for benefits in 10 other states.
In January, a federal judge issued a warrant to Gmail, which allowed the FBI to conduct investigations on the Gmail account of Rufai, of which led to the discovery of the alleged.
The Gmail account was said to have had different name, however, the recovery phone number linked with the Gmail account corresponded with the phone number on the 2019 U.S. visa application of Rufai.
Further investigation also revealed that Rufai allegedly sent some of the proceeds of the said fraud to the Jamaica and New York addresses of his relatives accounting to $288,000 deposits between March and August 2020.
Rufai had made his initial appearance last Saturday in New York and he is scheduled for a detention hearing on Wednesday.
Rufai risks 30 years in prison if found guilty of wire fraud.
Governor Abiodun in his reaction said: “We received the very disturbing news of the arrest of one of the governor’s political appointees, Mr Abidemi Rufai in New York over alleged unemployment benefits and fraud in the United States, this morning.
“While the Governor cannot be held responsible for the actions of a full grown adult, especially outside the jurisdiction of Ogun and Nigeria, he has since suspended the suspect from office to enable him answer the charges levelled against him.
“The Governor wishes to condemn any act capable of undermining his determination to institute an open, transparent, accountable and morally upright behaviour in the State and in governance.
“Gov. Abiodun remains committed to his agenda of building our future together and will not condone criminals either in his government or the state in general.”
