A Nigerian man has been sentenced to five years in prison for his role in a multimillion dollar fraud scheme in which he impersonated procurement officials with educational institutions as well as state and federal governments.

According to a U.S. Department of Justice news release, Fatade Idowu Olamilekan was sentenced in the Southern District of New York in connection with a scam to try to secure millions of dollars worth of medical equipment, computers, lab equipment and hardware by impersonating procurement officials. 

“Fatade Idowu Olamilekan carried out a sprawling criminal scheme from Nigeria to fraudulently obtain medical equipment and other merchandise by impersonating government officials, including the chief procurement officer for New York,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in the news release. “Olamilekan will now face substantial prison time for his criminal conduct."

Olamilekan was apprehended in Nigeria in the fall of 2021, the release reported. He was extradited to the U.S. last July and admitted his guilt in the fraud.

According to the news release, Olamilekan ran the scheme from 2018 through September of 2020, and claimed to be the chief procurement officer of New York during the COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to try to secure medical supplies, including defibrillators.

Olamilekan would conduct extensive research to determine the identities of procurement officials on the local, state and federal levels as well as at educational institutions, the release reported. Olamilekan would target American manufacturers of medical supplies, computers and lab equipment and would even select suppliers already supplying the entity he was impersonating in an effort to avoid raising suspicion.

“This case demonstrates that we will go to great lengths to pursue defendants located abroad who seek to defraud American businesses and individuals,” Williams added, according to the news release.