A Baltimore, Maryland federal court has sentenced 29-year-old Nigerian national Temitope Bashua to 30 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for orchestrating a multi-state scam targeting COVID-19 relief programs.
Bashua pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy that fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance (UI) benefits and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), both established under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to support Americans affected by the pandemic. Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher handed down the sentence on November 20, highlighting the severity of the offenses.
According to court records, between May 2020 and September 2022, Bashua and his accomplices impersonated victims by using stolen personally identifiable information (PII) to submit fraudulent UI claims in Maryland and California. In October 2020, the group also filed two false EIDL applications for fictitious businesses, ultimately diverting more than $290,000 from the U.S. Treasury to Bashua.
The CARES Act, passed in March 2020, created emergency programs like the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and EIDL to help businesses meet financial obligations during the pandemic. EIDL advances, which do not need to be repaid, could reach up to $10,000 even if the borrower was not approved for a full loan.
Bashua admitted to involvement in additional criminal schemes, including cyber intrusion, romance fraud, and business email compromise fraud, underscoring a pattern of deliberate, high-scale deception.
The sentence was announced by Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, alongside Troy W. Springer, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG); Evan Campanella, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) – Baltimore; and Joseph V. Cuffari, Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS-OIG).