Two Nigerian citizens living in Toronto have been indicted by a federal grand jury for an alleged scam to steal U.S. tax refunds and COVID-19 pandemic benefits, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Washington.
According to the release, authorities last week arrested Sakiru Olanrewaju Ambali, 45, in Frankfurt, Germany, while returning to Canada from Nigeria. Fatiu Ismaila Lawal, also 45, was detained in Canada. The pair are being detained in their respective locations for extradition to the United States, according to the release.
“These men are accused of using the stolen identities of thousands of Americans to submit over 1,700 claims for pandemic unemployment benefits to over 25 different states, including Washington state,” U.S. Attorney Nick Brown said in the news release. “My office is committed to bringing to justice those accused of exploiting a time of crisis to illegally enrich themselves, whether they are in the United States or abroad.”
Michael Galdo, the Justice Department’s acting director of COVID-19 fraud enforcement, pointed out in the release that the arrests demonstrate the department’s focus on partnering with law enforcement to seek out perpetrators of these schemes around the globe.
“I applaud the hard work of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, thank our domestic and international partners for their continued assistance and look forward to seeing additional results from the data analysis identifying suspected pandemic relief fraud,” Galdo said.
According to the release, Ambali and Lawal set up an elaborate scheme in which they turned in phony claims for pandemic assistance and fake tax returns seeking refunds using personal information that had been stolen from thousands of Americans, with claims seeking about $25 million.
The Justice Department noted in the release that the pair was able to net about $2.4 million, most of which was in the form of pandemic unemployment benefits. The news release noted they requested the benefits in more than 25 states, including Washington, California, Nevada and Michigan.
Moreover, the news release noted the pair created 13 different Google accounts to make 900 claims and created 800 different fraudulent email addresses, using four Internet domain names that they used for fraudulent purposes.
