A US district court of Ohio eastern division has sentenced a Nigerian pastor, Edward Oluwasanmi, to 27 months in prison over fraud involving a $4.2 million COVID-19 relief fund.
Authorities had arrested Oluwasanmi and Joseph Oloyede, the Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun state, in April 2024 and slammed them with an 11-count charge.
The charges include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, and engaging in monetary transactions with criminally derived property.
According to the charge sheet, the duo defrauded the US government after submitting falsified information about companies they control to apply for Paycheck Protection Programme (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs).
The application which they submitted between April 2020 and February 28, 2022, also included a false tax and wage documents.
Oluwasanmi used the details to obtain millions of dollars through his companies: Dayspring Transportation Limited, Dayspring Holding Incorporated, and Dayspring Property Incorporated.
He later diverted the fund for personal use.
The duo pleased guilty to the charges in Febuary 2025 and applied for a plea bargain arrangement.
On July 2, the presiding judge over the trial, Christopher Boyko, ordered Oluwasanmi to forfeit the sum of $1.3 million to the US government.
The judge also sentenced him to “27 months on counts 1, 11 and 12 of the indictment, to be served concurrently”.
A court judgement is yet to be delivered in the case against the first defendant Oloyede.
