When someone lands a government appointment in Nigeria, especially one directly under the president or governor, it is assumed that the person has finally ‘made it, financially. This is because their share of the national cake is in view. So, you can imagine the shock in the faces of Nigerians when Abidemi Rufai, the senior special assistant to the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, was accused of being a significant participant in what may have been the largest fraud against the Washington state government in the US.
When you think he would have learnt a thing or two after Hushpuppi’s arrest, the self-acclaimed Lekki big boy got busted at the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York on Friday, May 14 of 2020, in connection to a 350 thousand dollars fraud, a whopping (140 Million Naira). The FBI investigation, which followed his track for over a year, showed that Rufai allegedly stole the identities of over 100 Washington residents to steal covid-19 unemployment benefits meant for US residents in 2020. Although his lawyer has continued to reiterate that Abidemi is not guilty of the wire fraud charges against him, there are reports that he faces up to 30 years imprisonment if he is found guilty.
