Surety Provided By Rufai Is A Suspected Fraudster – US Govt

• Rufai was said to have allegedly used 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 in 2020

The United States Department of Justice has again 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, said the “surety is suspect in an investigation into an email impersonation scheme.”

Rufai was denied bail last Wednesday 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 the suspect could post the bond.

Read also: Rufai Is A Flight Risk, Shouldn’t Be Granted Bail – US Govt.

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 Rufai to stay at her and her husband’s home.

The DoJ’s letter partly reads: “First, the FBI has conducted research into the Surety and has learned information indicating that the Surety is not an appropriate person to perform that role.

“In 2015, the Surety’s bank (Bank of America) issued a report naming the Surety as a suspect in an investigation into an email impersonation scheme.

“According to the bank’s report, a person purporting to be a donor deposited $134,000 into the bank account of a legitimate nonprofit. The “donor” (who was never identified) then contacted the non-profit and stated that some of the deposited funds were intended for a different recipient.

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“The donor asked the non-profit to wire the excess funds to three different accounts, one of which was a Bank of America account in the Surety’s name. The report indicates that the Surety then made cash withdrawals of the proceeds at two different B of A locations. The Surety did not respond to inquiries from Bank of America.

“Second, FBI’s research was unable to confirm that the Surety owns the listed real property. Mortgage and deed records for the property indicate that it was last purchased by an individual with the initials L.S.G. on November  7, 2014.”

The Magistrate Judge, however, delayed his release until May 25 to give enough time to federal prosecutors to appeal the order.