A Nigerian pastor, Edward Oluwasanmi, has been sentenced to 27 months in a United States prison for defrauding the US government of $4.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds.
Oluwasanmi was arrested in April 2024 alongside Joseph Oloyede, the traditional ruler of Ipetumodu in Osun State.
The duo were accused of orchestrating a massive fraud scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic, and were slammed with 13 criminal charges ranging from conspiracy to commit wire fraud and defraud the US, to money laundering and illegal financial transactions.
Between April 2020 and February 2022, the pair reportedly submitted fake loan applications for COVID relief under the Paycheck Protection Programme and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan scheme. They allegedly used false tax and wage documents to back up their claims for companies they controlled.
Oluwasanmi is said to have used businesses like Dayspring Transportation Limited, Dayspring Holding Incorporated and Dayspring Property Incorporated to funnel millions of dollars in relief funds, which he later diverted for personal use.
After pleading guilty in February 2025 as part of a plea deal, Oluwasanmi was sentenced on July 2 by Judge Christopher Boyko of the US District Court in Ohio.
He received 27 months in prison on counts 1, 11, and 12 of the charges, to run concurrently. He was also ordered to forfeit $1.3 million to the US government.
The court has not yet delivered judgment on Oloyede’s case, who is listed as the first defendant in the suit.
