Fresh Court documents have shown how the husband of the surety who announced readiness to stand in for Abidemi Rufai’s release in the United States was indicted for fraud in 2014.
Mr Rufai, who is a close ally of Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun is currently in detention for his involvement in a $350,000 fraud.
He reportedly 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 (ESD) during the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
POLITICS NIGERIA reported that the U.S. government earlier disclosed that it was dangerous to release Mr Rufai on bail to Nekpen Soyemi, his surety because she “is a suspect in an investigation into an email impersonation scheme.”
Court documents obtained by this newspaper showed that the surety’s husband, Idris Soyemi, was convicted for wire fraud in 2014. Like Mr Rufai, Mr Soyemi utilised the e-mail address, ketay01@yahoo.com to carry out several fraudulent activities in the U.S.
He was arrested by undercover agents in 2013 and tried at the United States District Court in New Hampshire where he was indicted a year after, findings by POLITICS NIGERIA exposed.
Guilty Plea
Interestingly, Mr Soyemi pleaded guilty to the fraud charges levied against him in court then. Our correspondent gathered that the latest findings led to the refusal of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington at Tacoma, to release Mr Rufai on bail last Wednesday.
The U.S. government argued in court that Mr Rufai cannot be released on bail to the Soyemi family because they are not appropriate persons to perform that role.
POLITICS NIGERIA is in possession of the court documents, view below;
