The United States Department of Justice has written to the United States Magistrate Judge in Eastern District of New York, Ramon Reyes, claiming that the surety provided by Dapo Abiodun’s aide, Abidemi Rufai, is a suspected fraudster.
The Acting U.S. Attorney, Tessa Gorma, in a letter obtained exclusively by PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday, said the “surety is suspect in an investigation into an email impersonation scheme.”
This newspaper reported how Mr Rufai was arrested while trying to get out of the U.S. on May 14.
He was accused of allegedly using the identities of more than 100 Washington residents to steal more than $350,000 in unemployment benefits from the Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD) during the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
Mr Rufai has since been suspended by Governor Abiodun.
Last Tuesday, his lawyer, Michael Barrow, said Mr Rufai denied “involvement in these transactions.”
His first appearance in court was Wednesday and he was denied bail because his brother, Alaba Rufai, who is listed in court records, could not post the $300,000 surety bond for his bail.
However, a surety was presented on Friday with the court ruling that a New York state resident and family friend of Mr Rufai could post the bond.
The surety, Nekpen Soyemi, a registered nurse, whose family comes from Nigeria, told the court that she would guarantee the $300,000 bond and allow Mr Rufai to stay at her and her husband’s home.
Credit: premiumtimesng.com
The post Surety provided by Dapo Abiodun’s aide is suspected fraudster-U.S. reveals appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS