Unemployment fraud suspect tried to bilk IRS of $1.6M – KIRO 7 Information Seattle

TACOMA, Washington – A suspended Nigerian government official accused of stealing $ 350,000 from Washington state in a massive pandemic-related fraud also attempted to get nearly $ 1.6 million from the Internal Revenue Service to be expected, announced the federal prosecutor on Friday.

Abidemi Rufai, 42, was arrested on May 14 while trying to travel to Nigeria from New York. It is alleged to have stolen more than $ 350,000 from the Washington State Department of Occupational Safety and Health with identities stolen when it tried to push unemployment benefits on people who lost their jobs during the pandemic last year.

The state likely paid out more than $ 647 million for such fraudulent claims, despite $ 370 million being confiscated, officials said last month.

Federal prosecutors in western Washington have tried to ensure that Rufai remains in custody pending trial as he poses a high risk of escape, becomes familiar with false identities and is unlikely to ever be extradited if he returns to Nigeria.

On Friday, they filed a letter with US District Judge Benjamin Settle to back up that argument. It is said that in the past few days, IRS criminal investigators have revealed that they have been investigating an email account associated with Rufai for years.

According to the IRS, from 2016 to 2019 the email account was used to file 652 fraudulent tax returns seeking $ 1.6 million in refunds.

“The IRS declined many of the filings but accepted returns that were asking for approximately $ 900,000,” the letter said. “The IRS calculates the amount of refunds actually paid on these returns.”

An attorney representing Rufai, Lance Hester, told the Seattle Times that he was not familiar enough with the allegations against his client to comment.

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