Olamide Yusuf Bakare, a Nigerian national residing in Maryland, USA, has been sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for conspiring to commit wire fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bakare, along with co-defendants Quazeem Owolabi Adeyinka and Ayodeji Jonathan Sangode, participated in a scheme to submit fraudulent unemployment insurance (UI) and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims to the States of Maryland and California.

The conspirators obtained the personal information of ineligible individuals or those who did not authorize them to seek benefits.

Using this data, they submitted fraudulent claims to EDD and MDOL, leading to the approval of at least 142 illegitimate claims.

Benefit funds were deposited into debit card accounts, and Bakare used these cards to withdraw cash for himself and his co-conspirators.

In addition to his sentence, Bakare’s assets, including a condominium in Lagos State, Nigeria, were ordered forfeited.

The other co-defendants will be sentenced later this year, facing up to 20 years and 15 years in prison, respectively.