Ogun state Governor suspends aide arrested over $350m alleged unemployment fraud
Posted by FN Editor | 3 years ago | 876 times
Governor Dapo Abiodun, has suspended his aide, Abidemi Rufai, who was arrested in the United States for an alleged $350,000 COVID-19 unemployment fraud.
Kunle Somorin, Chief press secretary, confirmed the suspension on Tuesday.
“Our position is that the law should take its course,” Mr Somorin said in a Whatsapp interview.
“The governor has ordered his immediate suspension from office to answer charges against him.”
Sources within the government reported that the governor took action immediately he was briefed about Rufai’s arrest.
Rufai, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Abiodun, was arrested last Friday, at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York before boarding a flight to Amsterdam.
He appeared in a US Federal court on Saturday, May 15, on charges that he 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 during the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
“Since the first fraud reports to our office in April 2020, we have worked diligently with a federal law enforcement team to track down the criminals who stole funds designated for pandemic relief. This is the first, but will not be the last, significant arrest in our ongoing investigation of ESD fraud.”Tessa Gorman, acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington said
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