US Court Sentences Nigerian Man To 30 Months For $290,000 COVID-19 Relief Fraud Scheme
Story: Written by Zara November 25,2025
A Nigerian citizen, 29-year-old Temitope Bashua, has been sentenced to 30 months in a United States federal prison for participating in a large-scale fraud operation that siphoned over $290,000 from America’s COVID-19 relief programmes.
Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher of the U.S. District Court for Maryland issued the sentence, which also includes two years of supervised release, after Bashua pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to steal personal identities and file fraudulent unemployment and disaster-loan claims across several states.
According to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, Bashua and his accomplices exploited government assistance programmes between May 2020 and September 2022 — a period when the U.S. rolled out extensive financial support to citizens and small businesses affected by the pandemic.
Federal prosecutors said the group targeted key relief initiatives introduced under the CARES Act, including expanded Unemployment Insurance (UI) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) programme. These schemes were intended to keep families financially stable and help businesses survive lockdown disruptions.
Investigation records show that Bashua’s network stole personally identifiable information (PII) from unsuspecting victims and used it to impersonate them when submitting fraudulent claims in Maryland and California. Some of the fraudulent EIDL applications sought loans and advances of up to $10,000 — funds that did not require repayment under Small Business Administration (SBA) rules.
Authorities further disclosed that in October 2020, the conspirators filed two fake EIDL applications using the identities of victims to claim financial assistance for non-existent businesses.
“As a result of these fake EIDL submissions, Bashua received more than $290,000 in U.S. Treasury funds,” prosecutors stated. They added that Bashua also confessed to involvement in other forms of cybercrime, including romance scams, business email compromise operations, and unauthorized system intrusions.
The case was handled by the District of Maryland COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force — one of five dedicated teams created by the U.S. Department of Justice to identify and prosecute multi-state and international networks stealing pandemic relief funds. The teams rely on collaboration between federal investigators, prosecutors, and data analysts to track and dismantle large-scale fraud rings.
Bashua will serve his prison term in a federal correctional facility, with further investigations likely to continue against other members of the fraud network.
