The traditional ruler of Ipetumodu in Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede, has been sentenced in the United States to more than four years in prison for defrauding COVID-19 relief programs. The conviction has not only unsettled his hometown community but has also drawn renewed attention to his troubled past, particularly a 1991 immigration fraud case that he lost on appeal in 1992.
The 62-year-old monarch, who holds both Nigerian and American citizenship and resides in Medina, Ohio, was convicted on August 26, 2025. U.S. District Judge Christopher A. Boyko handed down a 56-month prison sentence and ordered him to serve three years of supervised release upon completion of his jail term. In addition, the court directed him to pay restitution amounting to $4.4 million. He was also made to forfeit his Medina home, which investigators said was acquired with proceeds of the scheme, along with almost $100,000 traced directly to fraudulent transactions.
According to prosecutors, Oloyede conspired with Edward Oluwasanmi to exploit loan opportunities provided under the U.S. government’s COVID-19 relief initiative for struggling small businesses. Between 2020 and 2022, they submitted multiple false applications to the Small Business Administration under the CARES Act. Oluwasanmi was sentenced separately to 27 months in prison, alongside restitution payments exceeding $1.2 million, fines, and a term of supervised release.
While the recent case has captured widespread attention, it is not Oloyede’s first clash with the law in the United States. More than three decades ago, he was convicted alongside Virginia-based immigration lawyer Clifford C. Cooper for orchestrating a scheme that supplied undocumented immigrants with fake work and residency papers. At the time, Oloyede, then a part-time cab driver in Washington, D.C., was accused of running a network that produced counterfeit social security and employment documents for Nigerians and Ethiopians who had overstayed their visas. These individuals were later referred to Cooper, who used his legal practice to file fraudulent applications with immigration authorities.
Several immigrants testified against the duo, explaining how they paid between $1,600 and $3,500 for the documents, which were later defended in immigration hearings. The case reached the U.S. Court of Appeals in 1992, but the convictions were upheld. Judges ruled that their actions encouraged illegal immigrants already in the country to remain, directly contravening federal immigration laws. Arguments that the law applied only to newly smuggled migrants were dismissed, and the court also rejected claims of attorney-client privilege, noting that fraudulent information submitted for official use could not be considered confidential.
Back in Nigeria, Oba Oloyede’s imprisonment has sparked turmoil in Ipetumodu. The community has become deeply divided, with some residents calling for the throne to remain vacant until the monarch returns, while others are pressing for an immediate replacement. Governor Ademola Adeleke, who had initially stayed silent on the matter, has now intervened. During a State Executive Council meeting, he instructed the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Dosu Babatunde, to urgently address what he described as an “ugly development” affecting the traditional stool.
The conviction of Oba Oloyede has cast a long shadow over his legacy. Once regarded as a custodian of tradition, his reign is now clouded by a history of fraudulent dealings that stretches from immigration scams in the early 1990s to financial crimes during the pandemic. As he begins his prison sentence in the United States, his community at home faces a leadership crisis and an uncertain future for the royal stool of Ipetumodu.