Oluwanishola Oyedyipo Jinadu, a 25-year-old Nigerian man who overstayed his B1/B2 nonimmigrant visa in the United States, has been charged with defrauding federal pandemic relief programs, including the Pandemic Unemployment Compensation and the Paycheck Protection Program.
The 17-count indictment alleges that Jinadu illegally obtained government funds and engaged in wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and immigration fraud.
The Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Chad Meacham, announced this in a press statement on Monday, March 3, 2025.
He made his initial appearance Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian McKay.
The indictment alleges that Mr. Jinadu, who was in the United States illegally after overstaying his B1/B2 nonimmigrant Visa, defrauded the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, which provided supplemental unemployment insurance benefits to qualified claimants pursuant to the CARES Act, and unlawfully obtained unemployment benefits.
Records show that Mr. Jinadu allegedly received stolen unemployment benefits into his bank accounts. Applications were submitted in the names of at least five victims in Washington, Massachusetts, and Kansas without their authorization.
The indictment further alleges that Mr. Jinadu also defrauded the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which provided forgivable loans to small businesses to cover payroll, rent, and certain other expenses pursuant to the CARES Act.
When asked on his application, “Have you EVER committed a crime of any kind (even if you were not arrested, cited, charged with, or tried for that crime)?” Mr. Jinadu allegedly answered, “no.” He then certified, under penalty of perjury, that all of the information he provided was “complete, true, and correct.”
If convicted, he faces up to 96 years in federal prison.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General and the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation with the assistance of Homeland Security Investigation’s Dallas Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tiffany H. Eggers and Madeline S. Case are prosecuting the case.
