A United States District Court has sentenced the Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede, to four years and eight months mprisonment over a $4.2million COVID-19 relief fraud scandal.
Justice Christopher Boyko while delivering the sentence on Tuesday, also ordered the monarch +O pay $4.2r million in restitution.
The monarch was also ordered to pay the sum of. $195,000 to the IRS for filing a false t tax return.
Justice Boyko also ordered Oloyede to forfeit $96,000 in money seized from his bank account and his home on Foote Road that he bought in 2021 for $130,000.
Boyko said Oloyede was a “very smart guy who did a lot of stupid things.”
He said he would have sentenced the monarch to more prison time if it weren’t for his health issues.
Oba Oloyede, a US-based accountant and tne nformation system expert, was appointed new Apetu in July 2019.
The monarch was arrested alongside a
Nigerian pastor, Edward Oluwasanmi in early 2024 for their roles in a scheme to fraudulently obtain $4.2m in COVID-19 relief funds.
The two men were charged with 13 counts of conspiracy tO commit wire fraud, wire fraud. conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, and engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property.
