A 25-year-old Nigerian man, Oluwanishola Oyedyipo Jinadu, has been charged with multiple counts of fraud for allegedly defrauding U.S. pandemic relief programs while overstaying his visa.
The Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Chad Meacham, announced the charges in a statement on Monday, March 3, 2025. Jinadu was indicted on February 26, 2025, on seventeen counts, including five counts of theft of government funds, three counts of wire fraud, eight counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count of making false statements in immigration documents. He made his initial court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian McKay.
According to the indictment, Jinadu, who remained in the U.S. illegally after overstaying his B1/B2 nonimmigrant visa, fraudulently obtained funds from the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program under the CARES Act. He allegedly received stolen unemployment benefits in his bank accounts through applications submitted using the identities of at least five victims from Washington, Massachusetts, and Kansas.
Additionally, Jinadu is accused of defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which provided forgivable loans to small businesses during the pandemic. Investigators claim he illegally received over $65,000 in PPP funds through applications submitted in the names of at least three victims from Oklahoma.
Shortly after these alleged fraudulent activities, Jinadu applied for permanent residency in the U.S. On his application, he was required to disclose any prior criminal activity, but he allegedly answered “no” and certified that all provided information was accurate under penalty of perjury.
An indictment is only an allegation of criminal activity and does not serve as proof of guilt. Jinadu, like all defendants, is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
If convicted, he could face up to 96 years in federal prison.
The investigation was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General and the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigation’s Dallas Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tiffany H. Eggers and Madeline S. Case are leading the prosecution.
