Abidemi Rufai, the suspended Senior Special Assistant to Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, allegedly defrauded Washington State Employment Security Department using 10 different means, a court document obtained by The PUNCH has revealed.
In the document, Rufai was said to have submitted over 100 claims to the Washington Employment Department, and had also submitted additional claims to the state workforce agencies for other states.
The Nigerian reportedly carried out the scheme by using the stolen identities of American workers.
“In so doing, Rufai caused and attempted to cause, the Employment Security Department to pay out federal and other unemployment benefits in excess of $350,000, and fraudulently caused other states to pay out additional benefit payments,” part of the document reads.
Rufai’s fraud indictment, arrest and detention
The PUNCH reports that Abidemi Rufai has been in custody since his arrest on May 14, 2021, at the John F Kennedy International Airport in New York.
He was subsequently charged with defrauding Washington State Employment Security Department of over $350,000.
The indictment subsequently led to his suspension as a Senior Special Assistant on Special Duties, Abidemi Rufai.
Though he applied for bail on Wednesday, May 19, 2021, the application was denied as his brother could not afford the $300,000 “surety” bond.
The suspect was later detained at the Western District of Washington from where he is attending further court proceedings.
However, the 42-year-old Nigerian had denied the criminal charges filed against him.
The scheme Rufai allegedly manipulated
The suspended Ogun governor’s aide allegedly attempted to defraud the US agency using a Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act enacted on March 27, 2020 in the United States
The CARES Act authorised approximately $2 trillion in aid to American workers, families, and businesses to mitigate the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
-The PUNCH
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