On July 10, 2023, a Nigerian man living in the San Gabriel Valley was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison for defrauding California and Nevada of $1.3 million in COVID-19 pandemic unemployment and disability insurance benefits. He achieved this by submitting more than 100 fraudulent applications using stolen identities and used the money to build a nightclub and mall in Nigeria.
According to the U,S, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Abiola Femi Quadri, 43, of Pasadena, was sentenced by United States District Judge George H. Wu, who also ordered him to pay $1,356,229 in restitution and a $35,000 fine.
Quadri is a Nigerian citizen who acquired permanent residency in the United States through what he described — according to court documents — as a “fake wedding” in messages to a woman who was not his wife. He pleaded guilty on Jan. 2 to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Quadri withdrew the fraudulent unemployment and disability benefits at ATMs from 2021 until his arrest in September 2024 at Los Angeles International Airport, where he was scheduled to fly to Nigeria. Quadri sent at least $500,000 abroad during the scheme. He also paid for the construction of a 120-room resort hotel in Nigeria, the Oyins International, that includes a nightclub, a mall, and additional high-end amenities. Quadri failed to disclose his ownership of the hotel as required when completing his financial disclosure to the court.
Investigators found images of 17 counterfeit checks totaling more than $3.3 million on Quadri’s phone, along with messages discussing negotiations for the checks. Some of the checks were made payable to shell businesses held in the names of Quadri’s aliases. California paid Quadri to provide daycare services to developmentally disabled children through his Altadena-based business, Rock of Peace. When agents searched Quadri’s residence, they found the children’s misappropriated food-aid debit cards.
The United States Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, and the California Employment Development Department Investigation Division investigated this matter.
Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Brown of the Major Frauds Section prosecuted this case.
