Governor's Aide Arrested For Fraud In US, Lands In More Trouble

Posted by Thandiubani on Mon 28th Jun, 2021 - tori.ng

This comes after he reportedly tried to deceive a United States Court in order to get bailed while standing trial for $350,000 fraud.

Abidemi

It has been revealed that a suspected fraudster and former SA to the Ogun state governor, Abidemi Rufai is in fresh trouble.

This comes after he reportedly tried to deceive a United States Court in order to get bailed while standing trial for $350,000 fraud.

According to the court documents filed by the United States Department of Justice, the Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorma, told the United States Courthouse, in Tacoma, Washington, on June 23, that Mr Rufai participated in a fraudulent surety scheme to mislead the court.

It was discovered there were discrepancies in the documents Rufai used in trying to secure his bail.

The U.S. government said it obtained call recordings of his efforts to deceive the court.

“It is evident from the recording that the defence’s presentation of the surety as a friend of Rufai was false, and that, in fact, Rufai does not even know the surety. In the call, Rufai’s brother states that ‘they found a lady to set up the bail’.”

“In fact, Rufai did not even know ‘the lady’ and did not know basic biographical information about her. The recording also makes clear that Rufai has significant assets (at least enough to cover a $300,000 bond), which he is willing to use, however, he can to secure his own release."

“This is contrary to his statement to Pretrial Services in New York that his only asset is $6,000 in the United States and $10,000 in Nigerian checking and savings account. And, the recording shows that Rufai and his brother conspired to set up a replacement sham surety to buy Rufai’s release."

Rufai is currently in the custody of US officials.

Recall also that the U.S. District judge, Benjamin Settle of Tacoma had agreed with federal prosecutors that Mr Rufai represented a flight risk, hence he will remain in jail until his trial.