Oluwanishola Oyedyipo Jinadu, 25, a Nigerian national who overstayed his visa, has been charged with defrauding the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Insurance Benefits Program and the Paycheck Protection Program, Acting U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham announced.
A federal grand jury indicted Jinadu on February 26, 2025, on 17 counts, including five counts of theft of government money, three counts of wire fraud, eight counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count of making false statements in immigration documents. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian McKay on March 3.
According to the indictment, Jinadu fraudulently obtained unemployment benefits under the CARES Act, using the identities of at least five victims in Washington, Massachusetts, and Kansas. Authorities allege that he received stolen unemployment funds into his bank accounts.
Jinadu also allegedly defrauded the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), securing more than $65,000 in stolen funds using the identities of at least three victims in Oklahoma. The PPP was designed to provide forgivable loans to small businesses for payroll and other expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shortly after the alleged frauds, Jinadu applied for lawful permanent residency in the U.S. Prosecutors claim he falsely answered "no" when asked if he had committed a crime, certifying his application as “complete, true, and correct.”
If convicted, Jinadu faces up to 96 years in federal prison. The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General and the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations’ Dallas Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tiffany H. Eggers and Madeline S. Case are prosecuting the case.
