A Nigerian man who made false claims on employment documents and banking applications was sentenced June 1, 2015 to more than two years in federal prison.
Oluwaseyi Ademola Sadipe, age 39, a Nigerian living in Mason City, Iowa, received the prison term after a Feb. 10, 2015, jury verdict finding him guilty of one count of misuse of a Social Security number, one count of aggravated identity theft, and three counts of making false claims of United States citizenship.
The evidence at trial showed that Sadipe, a lawful permanent resident, falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen when filling out required employment eligibility verification forms to gain employment with three different employers between December 2013 and June 2014. On the employment forms, Sadipe used his valid Social Security number. In December 2013, Sadipe unlawfully used his five-month-old son’s Social Security number to obtain a checking account. Sadipe spent more than he deposited into the checking account, resulting in a loss of $1,175 to the bank by March 2014. Sadipe also unlawfully used his seven-year-old’s Social Security number on a car loan application in February 2014. Sadipe’s fraudulent use of multiple Social Security numbers was discovered when the car loan application was processed by the bank where Sadipe had opened the checking account.
Sadipe was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett. Sadipe was sentenced to twenty-five months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $500 was imposed, and he was ordered to make $2,276.35 in restitution to Clear Lake Bank & Trust ($1,175.27) and First Citizens National Bank ($1,101.08). He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Sadipe is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by the Office of Inspector General for the Social Security Administration and by Homeland Security Investigations.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 14-CR-3065.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
