The Apetu of Ipetumodu, Oba Joseph Oloyede, has pleaded for leniency before a U.S. court after admitting guilt in a $4.2 million COVID-19 relief fraud case that has drawn widespread attention in both Nigeria and the United States.
In a sentencing memorandum filed on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, before Judge Christopher Boyko of the Northern District of Ohio, the monarch’s lawyers argued that the coronavirus pandemic played a major role in pushing him into the crime.
“COVID-19 affected all of us differently. Conduct that we would never expect from ourselves or others sometimes manifested itself as we encountered a completely different society,” his counsel stated, adding that while the pandemic was not an excuse, it was a key factor, especially for Mr. Oloyede, who faced health challenges during the outbreak.
The 62-year-old traditional ruler was arrested by the FBI in May 2024 after disappearing from Nigeria two months earlier, sparking concerns in Ipetumodu over his absence from major traditional festivals such as Odun Egungun and Odun Edi. He was accused of using six companies to file fraudulent loan applications under the U.S. Paycheck Protection Programme and Economic Injury Disaster Loan schemes.
Court records revealed that Oba Oloyede, who migrated to the U.S. in the late 1990s, had previously built a respectable career as a banker and adjunct professor before returning to Nigeria in 2019 to assume the throne. His lawyers described the fraud as a complete departure from his past life of service and responsibility, stressing that he had shown remorse and accepted full responsibility.
Prosecutors disclosed that part of the fraud proceeds were la¥ndered through personal and business accounts, leading to the seizure of a Medina County property in Ohio and over $96,000 from one of his company’s bank accounts. He was granted bail after surrendering both his U.S. and Nigerian passports but has since remained under court restrictions pending sentencing.
Oba Oloyede, a father of six and foster parent to several others, is now scheduled to be sentenced on August 26, 2025.
