Three Nigerians residing in the United States—Kamaldeen Karaole, Stephen Olamigoke, and Johnson Omodusonu—have been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for defrauding the U.S. government of $520,910 through a COVID-19 unemployment benefits fraud scheme. One of the convicts has also agreed to deportation to Nigeria after completing his sentence.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice statement released on August 21, 2025, the trio stole at least 168 Unemployment Insurance debit cards belonging to others during 2020. Between August and October of that year, the defendants, working with accomplices outside the U.S., used the stolen cards and passwords to file false unemployment benefit claims.
The cards, issued by California, Arizona, and Nevada, were loaded periodically with fraudulent benefits and none belonged to the defendants. Other members of the conspiracy, operating abroad, used stolen personal information to submit numerous false claims to state workforce agencies.
Out of the 168 cards, 98 were used by the defendants to withdraw cash from ATMs, mainly around Indianapolis. In total, they made 529 withdrawals, stealing over half a million dollars.
All three men were charged with conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, and access device fraud.
Kamaldeen Karaole (24) pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 4 years and 3 months in prison, plus 2 years supervised release.
Stephen Olamigoke (23) was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison and 2 years supervised release. He acknowledged he will be deported after completing his sentence.
Johnson Omodusonu (24) received a 2-year prison sentence and 2 years supervised release.
Each defendant was ordered to pay full restitution of $520,910.
This case follows the August 6 report of France-based Nigerian Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu, who faces up to 47 years for wire fraud, hacking, and identity theft involving $819,000 in losses by hacking into U.S. tax preparation businesses.
