Nigerian citizen extradited from Germany to face charges over attempt to steal $25 million in U.S

Summary

A press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington, dated Friday, August 18, 2023, announcing that Sakiru Olanrewaju Ambali, extradited from Germany after an arrest in Frankfurt, made an initial appearance in Tacoma. According to the indictment, Ambali and codefendant Fatiu Ismaila Lawal used stolen identities of thousands of Americans to submit over 1,700 claims for pandemic unemployment benefits to over 25 states and filed over 2,300 fraudulent income tax returns seeking over $7.1 million. The release states that the claims sought approximately $25 million in total and the conspirators obtained approximately $2.4 million. The two are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, ten counts of wire fraud and six counts of aggravated identity theft; Lawal remains in Canada pending extradition.

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PRESS RELEASE



Nigerian citizen extradited from
Germany to face charges over
attempt to steal $25 million in U.S.
benefits
Friday, August 18, 2023


For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington


Allegedly successfully obtained over $2.4 million in pandemic
unemployment benefits

Tacoma – One of two Nigerian citizens residing in Canada, who allegedly defrauded the
pandemic unemployment benefit programs in multiple states, made his initial
appearance in U.S. District Court in Tacoma this afternoon at 2:00 PM. Sakiru Olanrewaju
Ambali, 45, was arrested in February 2023, in Frankfurt, Germany, as he traveled back to
Canada from Nigeria. Ambali had been detained in Germany pending extradition. He
arrived in the Western District of Washington yesterday afternoon.

Ambali and codefendant Fatiu Ismaila Lawal, 45, are accused of using the stolen
identities of thousands of Americans to submit over 1,700 claims for pandemic
unemployment benefits to over 25 different states, including Washington State.

According to the indictment, Lawal and Ambali used the stolen personal information of
thousands of U.S. taxpayers and residents to file fraudulent claims for COVID-19
pandemic assistance and false tax returns seeking refunds. In total, the claims sought
approximately $25 million, but the conspirators obtained approximately $2.4 million,
primarily from pandemic unemployment benefits.

The co-conspirators allegedly submitted claims for pandemic unemployment benefits to
more than 25 states including New York, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, California, and
Washington. Using 13 Google accounts they filed some 900 claims. The co-conspirators
also allegedly established four internet domain names that they then used for fraud –
creating some 800 different email addresses that were used for fraud.

Lawal and Ambali allegedly filed over 2,300 fraudulent income tax returns seeking over
$7.1 million in tax refunds. The IRS caught most of the fraud and paid only about
$30,000 in fraudulent refunds.

The co-conspirators also attempted to use the stolen American identities for Economic
Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) to defraud the Small Business Administration.

According to the indictment, the co-conspirators had the proceeds of their fraud sent to
cash cards or to “money mules” who transferred the funds according to instructions
given by the co-conspirators. They also allegedly used stolen identities to open bank
accounts and have the money deposited directly into those accounts for their use.

Lawal and Ambali are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, ten counts of wire
fraud and six counts of aggravated identity theft.

Lawal remains in Canada, pending extradition.

The conspiracy and wire fraud counts are punishable by up to 30 years in
prison. Aggravated identity theft is punishable by a mandatory minimum two years in
prison to run consecutive to any other prison time imposed in the case.

The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations. A person is presumed
innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a
court of law.

The National Unemployment Fraud Task Force provided a lead on this case to the
investigative team in Western Washington. The case was investigated by the FBI with
assistance from U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and the Department of Labor
Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG). Also contributing to the investigation were
Washington State Employment Security Division (ESD), the Internal Revenue Service
Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and the Small Business Administration (SBA).

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Cindy Chang and
Seth Wilkinson of the Western District of Washington. DOJ’s Office of International
Affairs is assisting.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement
Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with
agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-
related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most
culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with
administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating
existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover
fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and
insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the
department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can
report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud
(NCDF) Hotline via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-
fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

Contact
Press contact for the U.S. Attorney’s Office is Communications Director Emily Langlie at
(206) 553-4110 or Emily.Langlie@usdoj.gov.

Updated August 18, 2023

Topics
CORONAVIRUS

CYBERCRIME

DISASTER FRAUD

IDENTITY THEFT
Component
USAO - Washington, Western


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