Man accused of WA unemployment fraud facing several federal charges

A 42-year-old Nigerian citizen accused of stealing more than $350,000 in fraudulent unemployment claims from Washington state is facing several charges now, according to a U.S. Department of Justice release.

Abidemi Rufai has been indicted for conspiracy, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in the fraud case.

Rufai, whom FBI agents recognized from social media accounts and images from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York while they said he was trying to leave the country.

U.S. attorneys said Rufai stole the identities of more than 100 people in Washington to funnel unemployment benefits into his own bank account from the Washington Employment Security Department.

Investigators said Rufai used email addresses with small variations in a Gmail account, which made it appear like he was multiple people, to slip through fraud detection at ESD. He primarily used the address Sandytangy5@gmail.com, but would scatter periods in variations like san.dyta.ngy58@gmail.com and sa.ndyt.a.ngy58@gmail.com. As investigators said Gmail addresses do not recognize periods, anything sent to these addresses went straight to Rufai’s inbox.

The FBI stated Rufai filed hundreds of fraudulent unemployment claims within six months last year. They determined that between March and August 2020 more than $288,000 was deposited in accounts controlled by Rufai.

Some of the payments were paid to online payment accounts such as “Green Dot” accounts, federal officials said. Some of the proceeds were then mailed to the Jamaica, New York address of Rufai’s brother.

According to the Department of Justice, Rufai also filed fake claims with Hawaii, Wyoming, Massachusetts, Montana, New York and Pennsylvania.

“Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud are punishable by up to thirty years in prison when the offense relates to benefits paid in connection with a presidentially-declared disaster or emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Aggravated identity theft is punishable by a mandatory minimum two-year sentence to run consecutive to any sentence imposed on the other counts of conviction,” the release states.

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