Case docket
United States v. Abidemi Rufai — unemployment and EIDL case, W.D. Wash.
United States v. Rufai — 5 court filings in the archive from U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, filed between May 14, 2021 and September 26, 2022. Among them: 1 complaint, 1 indictment and 1 plea agreement.
Case facts
| Caption | United States v. Rufai |
|---|---|
| Court | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington |
| Docket number | 3:21-cr-05186 |
| Filings | 5 public filings |
| Filed | 2021-05-14 – 2022-09-26 |
| Document types | complaint (1), indictment (1), plea agreement (1), sentencing memorandum (1), judgment (1) |
| Original PDFs | 5 of 5 |
Case summary
This case page collects filings from the prosecution of Abidemi Rufai in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Tacoma, No. CR21-5186-BHS. An amended complaint filed May 14, 2021 charged five counts of wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 2. On May 26, 2021 a grand jury returned a 15-count indictment charging conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 1349 at count one, wire fraud in connection with a presidentially declared emergency or major disaster under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 2 at counts two through ten, and aggravated identity theft under 18 U.S.C. § 1028A at counts eleven through fifteen. He pleaded guilty on May 3, 2022 to counts two and eleven. Judgment was entered September 26, 2022.
Case at a glance
| Defendant(s) | Abidemi Rufai |
|---|---|
| Court and docket | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Tacoma, No. 3:21-cr-05186-BHS |
| District | Western District of Washington prosecutions → |
| Program | Expanded pandemic unemployment benefits administered by state workforce agencies, including the Washington Employment Security Department, and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program |
| Charges | Conspiracy (18 U.S.C. § 1349), count 1; wire fraud in connection with a presidentially declared emergency or major disaster (18 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 2), counts 2–10; aggravated identity theft (18 U.S.C. § 1028A), counts 11–15 |
| Outcome and sentence | Pleaded guilty May 3, 2022 to counts 2 and 11; judgment entered September 26, 2022. The judgment on the page is a nine-page scan and its terms are not in the extracted text |
| Counts of conviction | Pleaded guilty to counts 2 and 11 of the indictment: wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1343, count 2; aggravated identity theft, 18 U.S.C. § 1028A, count 11; offense ended Oct 3, 2020; counts 1, 3-10 and 12-15 dismissed on motion of the United States (judgment of September 26, 2022, p. 1) |
| Sentence imposed | 60 months' imprisonment: 36 months on count 2 and 24 months on count 11, consecutive (p. 2); three years of supervised release (p. 3) |
| Restitution | $604,260 (pp. 5-6), to Washington Employment Security Department $350,763; Arkansas Division of Workforce Services $10,166; Maine Department of Labor $8,205; Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency $44,216; Minnesota Unemployment Insurance Program $12,967; Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations $8,756; New York State Department of Labor $44,524; Ohio Department of Job and Family Services $3,132; Texas Workforce Commission $14,154; Internal Revenue Service $90,877; U.S. Small Business Administration $10,000; Federal Emergency Management Agency $6,500 (p. 7) |
| Fine and assessment | Fine waived; special assessment $200 (p. 6) |
| Forfeiture | "See Order of Forfeiture at Dkt. 50" (p. 8); accounts at Citibank, Bank of America, TD Bank and Wells Fargo in the defendant's name listed (p. 9) |
| Status checked | 2026-09-23 · against DOJ press releases through 2026-09-22; court docket not yet read |
What did the government recommend?
47 months' imprisonment on the wire fraud conviction at count two, to run consecutively to the mandatory 24-month sentence for aggravated identity theft at count eleven, for a total of 71 months.
What does the government's memorandum say about the claims?
That between April and October 2020 Rufai used stolen identities to submit at least 224 claims for pandemic benefits, and that between April and June 2020 he submitted at least 19 EIDL applications, most of which the SBA denied, receiving at least one $10,000 advance grant. It states he stole over $500,000 in relief funds.
Does the page show the sentence imposed?
No. The judgment of September 26, 2022 is on the page as a nine-page scan whose extracted text contains only page headers.
Summary written from the documents on this page; every sentence is sourced.
Filings
5 public filings from this case, in filing-date order.
- AMENDED COMPLAINT as to Abidemi Rufai. (KEB)…Complaint · PDF
- Indictment as to Abidemi Rufai (1) counts 1, 2-10, 11-15 — United States v. Rufai (Dkt. 10, W.D. Wash. No. 3:21-cr-05186)Indictment · PDF
- Plea Agreement as to Abidemi Rufai (cc: Uspo, Flu, Afu) — United States v. Rufai (Dkt. 42, W.D. Wash. No. 3:21-cr-05186)Plea agreement · PDF
- Sentencing Memorandum by USA as to Abidemi Rufai — United States v. Rufai (Dkt. 54, W.D. Wash. No. 3:21-cr-05186)Sentencing memorandum · PDF
- JUDGMENT as to Abidemi Rufai by Judge Benjamin H. Settle. (cc:……Judgment · PDF
Court, dates and docket numbers are as recorded on the filings.