Nigerian Citizen Sentenced for Unemployment Insurance Benefits Scam (Press Release, November 20, 2025)

Summary

Press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maryland, dated November 20, 2025. Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher sentenced Temitope Bashua, a citizen of Nigeria, to 30 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release for a conspiracy and scheme to fraudulently obtain unemployment insurance benefits and Economic Injury Disaster Loans. According to the plea agreement, from May 2020 through September 2022 he and others used victims' personally identifiable information to submit fraudulent unemployment benefit claims in Maryland and California, and in October 2020 co-conspirators submitted two fraudulent EIDL applications for fictitious businesses. He received more than $290,000 in U.S. Treasury funds from the SBA and admitted other schemes including romance fraud.

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PRESS RELEASE


Nigerian Citizen Sentenced for
Unemployment Insurance Benefits Scam
Thursday, November 20, 2025

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

Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher sentenced Temitope
Bashua, 29, a citizen of Nigeria, to 30 months in prison, followed by two years of
supervised release, for his role in a conspiracy and scheme to fraudulently obtain
unemployment insurance (UI) benefits and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL).

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence with
Special Agent in Charge Troy W. Springer, National Capital Region, U.S. Department of
Labor – Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), Acting Special Agent in Charge Evan
Campanella, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) – Baltimore, and Joseph V. Cuffari
Ph.D., Inspector General, Department of Homeland Security (DHS-OIG).

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act — a federal law enacted
in March 2020 — provided emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering from
the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Established by the CARES Act, the
Paycheck Protection Program — administered through the Small Business
Administration (SBA) — along with the EIDL, helped businesses meet their financial
obligations. An EIDL advance does not have to be repaid, and small businesses can
receive an advance, even if they are not approved for an EIDL loan. The maximum
advance amount is $10,000.

According to his plea agreement, and other court documents, from May 2020 through
September 2022, Bashua and others conspired to impersonate victims to obtain money
by submitting fraudulent UI benefits claims. Bashua and his co-conspirators used the
personally identifiable information (PII) without the victims’ knowledge or consent, to
submit fraudulent applications for UI benefits in Maryland and California.

Additionally, in October 2020, as a part of the conspiracy, co-conspirators submitted two
fraudulent EIDL applications to the SBA for fictitious businesses using the PII of identity
victims. As a result of the fraudulent EIDL applications, Bashua received more than
$290,000 in U.S. Treasury funds from the SBA. Bashua also admitted his involvement in
other schemes, including cyber intrusion, romance fraud, and business email
compromise fraud schemes.

The District of Maryland Strike Force is one of five strike forces established throughout
the United States by the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute COVID-
19 fraud, including fraud relating to the CARES Act. The strike forces focus on large-
scale, multi-state pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and
transnational actors. The strike forces are interagency law enforcement efforts, using
prosecutor-led and data analyst-driven teams designed to identify and bring to justice
those who stole pandemic relief funds.

For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please
visit 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 at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web
Complaint Form at: justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the DOL-OIG, HSI Baltimore, and DHS-OIG for their
work in the investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Philip Motsay
and Bijon Mostoufi who prosecuted the federal case.

For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and
resources available to report fraud, visit justice.gov/usao-md and justice.gov/usao-
md/community-outreach.

                                          ###

Contact
Kevin Nash
USAMD.Press@usdoj.gov
410-209-4946

Updated November 20, 2025


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