A United States District Court has sentenced the Apetu of Ipetumodu, Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede, to 56 months in prison for his role in a multimillion-dollar COVID-19 relief fund fraud.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, the judgment was delivered on Tuesday, August 26, by District Judge Christopher A. Boyko.

Oloyede, 62, who holds dual Nigerian and U.S. citizenship and resides in Medina, Ohio, was also ordered to pay $4,408,543.38 in restitution, forfeit his Medina residence purchased with fraud proceeds, and surrender an additional $96,006.89 seized by investigators. He will further serve three years of supervised release after completing his sentence.

Prosecutors said that between April 2020 and February 2022, Oloyede and his associate, Edward Oluwasanmi, conspired to exploit U.S. emergency loan programs established under the CARES Act to support businesses impacted by the pandemic.

Using five businesses and a nonprofit under his control, alongside three entities operated by Oluwasanmi, the monarch submitted dozens of fraudulent applications for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL).

Investigators revealed that Oloyede was directly linked to 38 false applications, securing more than $4.2 million in loans. He also assisted clients in filing fraudulent claims, taking 15–20% kickbacks, which he failed to declare to the Internal Revenue Service.

The funds were diverted for personal use, including land purchases, real estate construction, and luxury vehicles.

Oluwasanmi, 62, of Willoughby, Ohio, was earlier sentenced in July to 27 months in prison and ordered to repay over $1.2 million.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, the FBI Cleveland Division, and IRS-Criminal Investigations, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward D. Brydle and James L. Morford.