A Nigerian man, Adepoju Salako, has been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment in the United States for his involvement in a wire fraud scheme linked to the 2022 Permanent Fund Dividend programme in Alaska.
Salako, 33, who resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on Tuesday after investigations uncovered his role in defrauding the Alaska Department of Revenue through fraudulent applications submitted under the PFD programme.
Details of the conviction were contained in a statement published on Friday by the United States Department of Justice.
According to court documents, the fraudulent activities took place between January and February 2022.
Investigators said Salako obtained the personal identification information of legitimate residents of Alaska and used the stolen details to submit seven separate applications in an attempt to unlawfully obtain their Permanent Fund Dividend payments.
The report further stated that Salako had never lived in Alaska and had not visited the state until he travelled there for sentencing.
“Salako obtained the personal identifying information for legitimate Alaskan residents and submitted seven separate applications to the Alaska DOR to obtain their PFD funds.
“Salako was never an Alaskan resident and had never traveled to Alaska up until his arrival in the state for his sentencing in this matter.
“Court documents detail that Salako created new email accounts that he controlled for each legitimate Alaska resident whose PII he fraudulently obtained,” the statement read.
Salako pleaded guilty to seven counts of wire fraud.
The court also ruled that the 18-month sentence would run concurrently with an earlier sentence imposed in a separate COVID-19 relief fraud and international money laundering case handled in the District of Colorado.
In that case, he had earlier been sentenced to six and a half years imprisonment and ordered to pay $2.5 million in restitution to victims affected by the crimes.
