Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Western District of Washington


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, May 17, 2021

Nigerian citizen charged with defrauding Washington State Employment Security Department of over $350,000
Arrested at NY airport on criminal complaint


Seattle – A Nigerian citizen was arrested Friday evening at JFK Airport in New York on a criminal complaint charging him with wire fraud for his scheme to steal over $350,000 in unemployment benefits from the Washington State Employment Security Department, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Abidemi Rufai, aka Sandy Tang, 42, of Lekki, Nigeria, made his initial appearance Saturday May 15, 2021 in New York. He is scheduled for a detention hearing Wednesday.

“Since the first fraud reports to our office in April 2020, we have worked diligently with a federal law enforcement team to track down the criminals who stole funds designated for pandemic relief,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Gorman. “This is the first, but will not be the last, significant arrest in our ongoing investigation of ESD fraud.”

The criminal complaint alleges that Rufai used the stolen identities of more than 100 Washington residents to file fraudulent claims with ESD for pandemic-related unemployment benefits. Rufai also filed fraudulent unemployment claims with Hawaii, Wyoming, Massachusetts, Montana, New York, and Pennsylvania. Rufai used variations of a single e-mail address in a manner intended to evade automatic detection by fraud systems. By using this practice, Rufai made it appear that each claim was connected with a different email account.

Rufai caused the fraud proceeds to be paid out to online payment accounts such as ‘Green Dot’ accounts, or wired to bank accounts controlled by “money mules.” Some of the proceeds were then mailed to the Jamaica, New York address of Rufai’s relative. Law enforcement determined more than $288,000 was deposited into an American bank account controlled by Rufai between March and August 2020.

“Greed is a powerful motivator. Unfortunately, the greed alleged to this defendant affects all taxpayers,” said Donald Voiret, Special Agent in Charge FBI Seattle. “The FBI and our partners will not stand idly by while individuals attempt to defraud programs meant to assist American workers and families suffering the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Wire fraud is punishable by up to thirty years in prison when it relates to benefits paid in connection with a presidentially-declared disaster or emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

This case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG). The fraud on ESD is being investigated cooperatively by the FBI, DOL-OIG, Social Security Office of Inspector General, U.S. Secret Service, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations. The Washington Employment Security Department is cooperating in the investigation.

The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Seth Wilkinson, Cindy Chang, and Benjamin Diggs of the Western District of Washington, and Trial Attorney Jane Lee of DOJ’s Cyber Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS).

How Abidemi Rufai, Ogun governor’s aide was arrested for $350,000 fraud in US

Tuesday, May 18, 2021 9:40 am


Abidemi Rufai, aka ‘Sandy Tang,’ a senior special assistant to Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has been arrested in the United States over theft of over $350,000 unemployment benefits from the Washington Employment Security Department (ESD) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 42-year-old allegedly submitted dozens of unemployment claims using stolen identities between March and October 2020 to steal the fund.

Rufai was nabbed at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York while trying to escape to Nigeria and has been charged with wiring over $350,000 in unemployment benefits in the U.S.

Rufai had used a single Gmail account to file 102 claims for ESD benefits and also used it to file for benefits in 10 other states.

He had allegedly bypassed security systems at ESD using a simple feature of Gmail which allows users to create many additional email addresses simply by adding one or more periods to the original email address.

However, he was busted following a federal judge warrant to Gmail, allowing investigators to search his e-mail account.

Subsequent search of the mail revealed his Nigerian phone number which was linked to the account.

He had also used the same recovery phone number to apply for US Visa in 2019 while a Google Drive account associated with the Gmail account included the picture he used in the visa application and other government documents.

Investigators also discovered confirmation emails for products that listed his brother’s address in Jamaica, New York, as the billing address as well as a massive cache of tax returns and evidence that Rufai was allegedly involved in numerous other fraud schemes.

Records showed that he deposited $288,825 into his bank account and face up to 30 years in prison if found guilty.

“This is the first, but will not be the last, significant arrest in our ongoing investigation of ESD fraud,” said Tessa Gorman, acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, in a statement Monday.