US-based Nigerian Pastor jailed for $4.2m COVID-19 relief fraud

A U.S.-based Nigerian pastor, Edward Oluwasanmi, has been sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for fraudulently securing approximately $4.2 million (₦6.4 billion) in COVID-19 relief funds through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

The sentence was handed down on July 2, 2025, by Judge Christopher Boyko of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Oluwasanmi was convicted on counts 1, 11, and 12 of a 13-count indictment. The court ruled that the prison terms would run concurrently.

In addition to his prison sentence, Oluwasanmi was ordered to forfeit $1.3 million to the U.S. government and pay a $15,000 fine. He has also been instructed to report to the U.S. Marshal Service.

Oluwasanmi’s co-defendant and associate, Oba Joseph Oloyede, the traditional ruler known as the Apetu of Ipetumodu, also forfeited property to the U.S. government as part of the case. He is awaiting sentencing, scheduled for August 1, 2025.

The duo was arrested in April 2024 and later charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, money laundering, and engaging in monetary transactions involving criminally derived property.

According to U.S. prosecutors, between April 2020 and February 2022, the pair submitted fraudulent applications for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), using falsified tax and payroll documents for businesses they claimed to operate.

Court documents confirm that both Oluwasanmi and Oloyede entered guilty pleas to some of the charges under a plea agreement.