August 09, (THEWILL) – United States’ authorities have submitted a 97,000-page material in court as part of evidence of alleged fraud against Abidemi Rufai, a suspended aide of Ogun State’s Governor Dapo Abiodun.
THEWILL reports that Rufai was arrested at the JFK Airport in New York on May 14 over alleged $350,000 COVID-19 unemployment fraud in the United States.
According to Premium Times, the Prosecutor submitted 97,000-page materials at the U.S. District for the Western District of Washington at Tacoma, on July 26,
The indictment alleges that Rufai used the stolen identities of more than 100 Washington residents to file fraudulent claims with the Employment Security Department (ESD) for pandemic-related unemployment benefits.
Acting US Attorney Tessa M. Gorman had said Rufai filed fraudulent unemployment claims with Hawaii, Wyoming, Massachusetts, Montana, New York, and Pennsylvania, using variations of a single email address in a manner intended to evade automatic detection by fraud systems.
Rufai was arraigned before the court on June 25, 2021 where he pleaded not guilty to all counts. The court then scheduled trial for August 31, 2021 and set a pretrial motions deadline of July 23, 2021.
However, the prosecution and defence have asked the court for the postponement of the August 31 trial date, citing the “voluminous and complex” nature of the evidence presented. The agreed application was filed on August 3, 2021.
“On July 26, 2021, the government produced approximately 97,000 pages of material. In addition, the government is in the process of executing two additional electronic search warrants. The discovery includes electronic documents in a variety of formats”, the document stated in part.
“Further, much of the material may need to be redacted before it can be provided to the defendant. contains personal identifying information or sensitive financial information. The materials contains personal identifying information or sensitive financial information”, the document read.
According to the document, the government is in the process of executing two additional electronic search warrants.
About the Author
