A United States District Court has sentenced a Nigerian pastor, Edward Oluwasanmi, to 27 months over a $4.2 million COVID-19 relief fraud.
The US court also forfeited property linked to the crime by his co-defendant, Joseph Oloyede, a traditional ruler in Osun State.
According to reports, Oluwasanmi was convicted on Counts 1, 11, and 12 of a 13-count indictment and sentenced by Judge Christopher Boyko of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on July 2, 2025.
The court also ordered him to forfeit $1.3 million to the U.S. government. His sentences will run concurrently.
According to Vanguard, the pastor and Oloyede, who holds the title of Apetu of Ipetumodu, were arrested in April 2024 and later charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, money laundering, and engaging in monetary transactions involving criminally derived property.
The U.S. prosecutors revealed that between April 2020 and February 2022, the duo submitted fraudulent Paycheck Protection Programme (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications using falsified tax and wage documents for businesses under their control.
Oluwasanmi reportedly used companies such as Dayspring Transportation Limited, Dayspring Holding Incorporated, and Dayspring Property Incorporated to obtain and misappropriate millions of dollars for personal use.
In February 2025, both defendants entered guilty pleas and submitted plea bargain agreements.
While Oluwasanmi has now been sentenced, judgment in Oloyede’s case is still pending, though sources say properties linked to him in the U.S. have already been seized as part of asset forfeiture proceedings.
