A Nigerian man has been sentenced to 54 months in prison for defrauding U.S. pandemic aid programs out of more than $1 million, as per an announcement from U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Fatiu Ismaila Lawal, 46, who resided in Canada, was extradited to the United States last year and pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in September 2024. At the sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright remarked on the deliberate nature of the crime and its impact on those the aid was meant to assist. "This took advantage of programs designed to help people who were really struggling in an international emergency," the U.S. Department of Justice reported.
Lawal engaged in a scheme alongside co-defendant Sakiru Olanrewaju Ambali, 46, to use stolen identities to file over 1,700 claims for unemployment benefits across more than two dozen states, seeking some $25 million and successfully obtaining approximately $2.7 million. The lion's share of this amount derived from pandemic unemployment benefits. According to the case records filed, Lawal himself was responsible for submitting claims for $1,345,472. His criminal activities eagerly expanded to create four internet domain names, enabling the creation of about 800 different email addresses leveraged in the fraudulent claims.
The scam didn't just stop at unemployment claims. From 2018 to November 2022, Lawal misused personal information to file 3,000 income tax returns, aiming for $7.5 million in refunds. The IRS caught on to the deception, only releasing $30,000. Adam Jobes, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Seattle Field Office, contextualized the gravity of each fraudulent filing: "While Mr. Lawal may not have secured the $7.5 million he sought from fraudulent tax refunds, each of the 3,000 returns he filed represents a life he disrupted." The fraudulent ambitions also stretched to include applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) intended to scam the Small Business Administration (SBA), though most attempts were thwarted there as well.
Alongside imprisonment, Lawal was ordered to make restitution of the $1,345,472 purloined through his offenses. His accomplice, Ambali, received a 42-month prison term back in March 2024. During sentencing, the government called attention to the broader implications of such crimes, arguing that the real damage transcended monetary loss—it hampered real people and businesses from gaining access to critical assistance during national emergencies. "The estimated loss from these fraudulent pandemic unemployment claims is over $100 billion," the Justice Department stated.
The case itself was brought to light by the National Unemployment Fraud Task Force and saw a collaborative investigation effort involving the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, IRS Criminal Investigation, Washington State Employment Security Division, and the Small Business Administration. The prosecutorial charge was led by Assistant United States Attorney Cindy Chang of the Western District of Washington, with the DOJ’s Office of International Affairs playing a crucial role in the extradition process. In the enduring fight against pandemic-related fraud, the Department of Justice continues to encourage the public to report any suspicions of fraud via the National Center for Disaster Fraud's hotline or web complaint form.
