BREAKING: U.S Court Announces New Date For Trial Of Suspended Gov. Abiodun’s Aide

Abidemi Rufai

A U.S court has announced a new date for the trial of suspended Governor Abiodun’s aide.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that a United States Court has been postponed the fraud trial of suspended aide to Ogun Governor, Abidemi Rufai, who was indicted for alleged conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

It was gathered that a fresh ruling of the court postponed the commencement of Rufai’s trial by five months.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that the trial which was earlier scheduled to commence on August 31, 2021, has now been postponed to February 1, 2022.

It was gathered that the new trial date is based on an agreement between the prosecution and the defence, describing the case as “unusual and complex”.

Judge Benjamin Settle of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington stated that the pretrial motions “shall be filed no later than December 9, 2021”, and the fixed pretrial conference for January 24, 2022 at 10:00 a.m.

EKO HOT BLOG recalls that the suspended Governor Abiodun’s aide was arrested at the JFK Airport in New York on May 14, 2021, over alleged $350,000 COVID-19 unemployment fraud in the United States.

EKO HOT BLOG had earlier reported the prosecutor submitted 97,000-page materials at the U.S. District for the Western District of Washington at Tacoma, on July 26, 2021.

The charge against Rufai alleges that he 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.

EKO HOT BLOG further recalls that the Acting US Attorney, Tessa M. Gorman, had said the suspended Governor Abiodun’s aide 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.

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