The Apetu of Ipetumodu, Oba Joseph Oloyede has confessed to defrauding the U.S about $4.2 million COVID-19 relief fraud.
He made the confession at a hearing on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, before Judge Christopher Boyko of the Northern District of Ohio.
Speaking through his defense team, Oloyede argued that unusual pressures during the pandemic and his personal health struggles influenced his involvement in the scheme.
According to a sentencing memorandum cited by Peoples Gazette, Oloyede’s lawyers maintained that the COVID-19 outbreak created extreme social and financial pressures that drove individuals into unexpected actions. While stressing that the pandemic was not an excuse, they insisted it played a significant role in the monarch’s decisions.
The traditional ruler, who moved to the U.S. in the late 1990s, previously built a respectable career as a banker and adjunct lecturer before returning to Nigeria in 2019 to assume the throne of Ipetumodu. His attorneys described the case as a sharp break from his years of service, discipline, and leadership.
Investigators told the court that some of the fraudulent funds were funneled through both personal and business accounts, leading to the confiscation of a Medina County property in Ohio as well as more than $96,000 from a corporate account.
Oba Oloyede, a father of six and guardian to several foster children, was granted bail after handing over his Nigerian and American passports. He remains under strict supervision until his sentencing.
The final judgment is expected on August 26, 2025. The case has stirred debate on the clash between cultural leadership and international legal responsibility.
The FBI had been on his trail since May 2024 after his unexplained disappearance from Nigeria two months earlier, during which he missed key festivals in Ipetumodu such as Odun Egungun and Odun Edi.
Court records further revealed that he used six different companies to file fraudulent applications under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL), siphoning millions of dollars from the U.S. government.
