Nosa Edokpaigbe, a Nigerian national, has been sentenced to 60 months in federal prison for his role in a COVID-19 relief fraud scheme. The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announced that Edokpaigbe was also ordered to pay $1,408,897.16 in restitution and forfeit $681,694. After completing his sentence, he will be removed to Nigeria.
According to court documents, between July 2020 and May 2021, Edokpaigbe submitted hundreds of fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) applications using stolen personal information and fictitious business entities. He used various methods to conceal his involvement, including signing loan agreements under false names, creating fake documents for non-existent businesses, using a wireless hotspot to hide online activity, and submitting AI-generated images or images of mannequins to bypass identity verification checks. Authorities seized the hotspot from his residence during his arrest in October 2023.
Edokpaigbe also filed one fraudulent EIDL application in his own name and submitted hundreds of false tax returns using stolen identities. The fraudulent activities resulted in approximately $1.39 million being paid out through EIDL and PPP loans, with most funds deposited into bank accounts opened with false identities.
“While others were struggling to make ends meet during the COVID-19 pandemic, Nosa Edokpaigbe saw the national emergency as an opportunity to fleece American taxpayers out of almost $1.4 million,” said United States Attorney Peter McNeilly. “His shameless exploitation of relief programs which were supposed to be a lifeline for people in need has earned him several years in federal prison and a one-way trip back to Nigeria.”
“Nosa Edokpaigbe took advantage of what he saw as easy money through programs that were created to keep businesses and workers afloat during the pandemic, misdirecting that assistance to line his own pockets,” said Marv Massey, Acting Special Agent in Charge of FBI Denver. “His greed affects every American taxpayer, and the FBI will continue to aggressively pursue opportunists who think they can defraud the federal government.”
United States District Judge Regina M. Rodriguez presided over the sentencing.
The investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Denver Field Office along with the Cybercrime Investigations Division of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Assistant United States Attorneys Nicole Cassidy and Anna Edgar prosecuted the case.
Individuals with information about attempted COVID-19 fraud are encouraged to report it via phone or through an online complaint form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
