By Mojisola Oladele
The United States District Court has sentenced the Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede to four years and eight months imprisonment over a $4.2 million COVID-19 relief fraud scandal.
According to the US Department of Justice, Oloyede was sentenced by Justice Christopher Boyko.
Justice Boyko, while delivering the sentence, also ordered the monarch to pay $4.2 million in restitution.
The court’s decision marks a significant development in the case, which has drawn attention to the abuse of COVID-19 relief funds.
The monarch was also ordered to pay the sum of $195,000 to the IRS for filing a false tax return.
Justice Boyko also ordered Oloyede to forfeit $96,000 in money seized from his bank account and his home on Foote Road that he bought in 2021 for $130,000.
Oba Oloyede, a US-based accountant and information system expert, was appointed the new Apetu of Ipetumodu in July 2019.
The monarch was arrested alongside a Nigerian pastor, Edward Oluwasanmi in early 2024 for their roles in a scheme to fraudulently obtain $4.2m in COVID-19 relief funds.
The two men were charged with 13 counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, and engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property.
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