Abiola Femi Quadri has been jailed for 11 Years in U.S. for $1.3m COVID-19 Fraud.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that a Nigerian national, Abiola Femi Quadri has been sentenced to 11 years in a U.S. federal prison for orchestrating a massive $1.3 million COVID-19 unemployment fraud scheme at the height of the pandemic.
Quadri, 43, who lived in Pasadena, California, was sentenced on Thursday, July 10, 2025, by U.S. District Judge George H. Wu. He received 135 months in prison, was ordered to pay $1.35 million in restitution, and must also pay a $35,000 fine.
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According to court filings, Quadri stole the identities of dozens of Americans and used them to file over 100 fraudulent unemployment insurance claims in California and Nevada during the pandemic.
Investigators said he then withdrew the illicit funds from ATMs across California and wired large amounts overseas using the proceeds to finance a luxury real estate project in Nigeria.
Between 2021 and his arrest in September 2024 at Los Angeles International Airport, Quadri moved at least $500,000 abroad, authorities said. He was apprehended while attempting to board a flight to Nigeria.
U.S. prosecutors revealed that Quadri channelled the stolen funds into a high-end hospitality development known as Oyins International, a 120-room resort in Nigeria featuring a shopping mall, nightclub, and other upscale facilities.
Quadri never disclosed his ownership of the property in his mandatory court-ordered financial disclosures.
During the investigation, authorities found 17 counterfeit checks valued at over $3.3 million on Quadri’s mobile phone, along with chats outlining plans to cash them using shell companies he registered under false identities.
In private messages, Quadri also admitted to entering a fake marriage to secure U.S. permanent residency, confessing this in texts to a woman who was not his legal wife.
Quadri operated a business called Rock of Peace in Altadena, California, contracted by the state to care for developmentally disabled children.
During a search of his residence, investigators discovered food-aid debit cards meant for the children, raising concerns of further financial exploitation.
The case was jointly investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the California Employment Development Department (EDD).
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Brown of the Major Frauds Section led the prosecution.
