The United States district court has sentenced the Joseph Oloyede, the Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun state, to four years and eight months in prison over a $4.2 million COVID-19 relief fraud case.
In a statement on Tuesday, the US department of justice said Christopher Boyko, the presiding judge, handed down the sentence and also ordered the monarch to pay $4.2 million in restitution to victims of the scheme.
The court ruling followed Oloyede’s guilty plea to 13 charges bordering on conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to defraud, and engaging in monetary transactions with criminally derived property.
As part of the judgement, Boyko also directed him to pay $195,000 to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for filing a false tax return.
In addition, the monarch forfeited $96,000 seized from his bank account and a property located on Foote Road, which he purchased in 2021 for $130,000.
“You’re a very smart guy who did a lot of stupid things,” Boyko said, adding that he would have imposed a longer prison term if not for the monarch’s health challenges.
Oloyede, a US-based accountant and information systems expert, was installed as the Apetu of Ipetumodu in July 2019.
He was arrested in early 2024 alongside Nigerian pastor Edward Oluwasanmi for their roles in the fraudulent scheme to obtain COVID-19 relief funds.
The conviction marks a significant development in the high-profile case that exposed the misuse of pandemic relief funds.
