Naija No Dey Carry Last? Nigerian Jailed for $1.3M COVID Scam That Funded Hotel and Mall Back Home — Click to See How He Was Caught

Abiola Femi Quadri, 43, of Pasadena, California, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge George H. Wu to 135 months in prison, and ordered to pay $1,356,229 in restitution plus a $35,000 fine.

Quadri, a Nigerian national who obtained U.S. permanent residency through what he admitted in court documents was a “fake wedding,” pleaded guilty in January to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

According to prosecutors, Quadri submitted over 100 fraudulent applications for unemployment and disability benefits in California and Nevada during the COVID-19 pandemic, using stolen identities. From 2021 until his arrest at Los Angeles International Airport in September 2024 — as he attempted to board a flight to Nigeria — Quadri withdrew funds at ATMs and sent at least $500,000 overseas.

Investigators say Quadri invested the stolen funds into building the Oyins International, a sprawling 120-room resort hotel in Nigeria featuring a nightclub, shopping mall, and other upscale amenities. He failed to disclose his ownership of the hotel when submitting financial disclosures to the court.

Authorities also uncovered more than $3.3 million in counterfeit checks on Quadri’s phone, as well as records of shell businesses and misused food-aid debit cards intended for developmentally disabled children under his California-based daycare business, Rock of Peace.

The scheme was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and the California Employment Development Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Brown of the Major Frauds Section prosecuted the case.

“This case underscores the lengths some fraudsters went to exploit pandemic relief programs, and the serious consequences of abusing the system,” said a federal investigator after sentencing.

What more can be done to tighten safeguards on public aid programs? How should host countries monitor how fraud proceeds are laundered overseas? Does this conviction send a strong enough message to international fraud networks?