The Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede, has been sentenced to more than four years in prison in Cleveland, Ohio, after being found guilty of defrauding U.S. federal loan programs designed to help businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Oloyede, 62, who is both a U.S. and Nigerian citizen, was handed a 56-month prison term by U.S. District Judge Christopher A. Boyko on August 26, 2025.
The monarch, who also worked as a tax preparer in Ohio, admitted in April to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, engaging in illegal monetary transactions, and filing false tax returns.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio confirmed the sentence in a statement.
In addition to prison, Oloyede must serve three years of supervised release and repay $4.4 million in restitution.
He also forfeited his Medina home, which was bought with stolen funds, along with more than $96,000 seized by investigators.
According to prosecutors, from April 2020 to February 2022, Oloyede and his partner, Edward Oluwasanmi, submitted dozens of fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications.
These schemes were carried out under the U.S. CARES Act, a package meant to ease small businesses’ financial struggles during the pandemic.
Court filings showed that Oloyede operated five businesses and one nonprofit while Oluwasanmi owned three companies.
Using these entities, they applied for and secured more than $2.9 million in loans.
Investigators also discovered that Oloyede prepared fake applications for his tax clients in exchange for kickbacks, charging between 15% and 20% of the loan amounts.
Instead of reporting this income, he hid it from the IRS.
The funds, prosecutors revealed, were used to buy land, luxury cars, and real estate, while some were funneled into personal accounts.
Oluwasanmi, 62, was sentenced in July 2024 to 27 months in prison and ordered to repay $1.2 million.
He also forfeited a commercial property in South Euclid and more than $600,000 in cash.
“This was a deliberate scheme to exploit a program meant to help struggling businesses,” federal investigators said, noting that Oloyede personally caused the Small Business Administration to approve 38 fraudulent applications totaling $4.2 million.
The case was investigated by the FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigations, and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Inspector General as part of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Fraud Task Force.
